The wind moves on, unaware
I don’t like to be by myself when it is windy. It is a small idiosyncrasy that I have attempted to ignore for as long as I can remember. When it is windy, there is an eerie sensation that fills my being. Honestly I don’t think that I have ever admitted this to anyone because I find it ridiculous and more importantly, I have never been able to explain it . . . that is until it finally dawned on me last night.
I had spent the night at a friend’s house. We had played in the pool at her complex most of the morning. After shoving my pajamas into my bag and throwing it over my shoulder, I told her goodbye and left to walk the three blocks to my house. I was all of 10 or 11 years old at the time, but I had walked that street countless times. I hadn’t bothered to change out of my swimming suit since I would just get home and get in the shower, so my outfit consisted of swimming suit, towel wrapped around my waist and flip-flops on my feet.
After walking out of the complex onto the main road, I had a thought that I should go back to my friend’s house and have her mom drive me home. I hesitated for a second while I took in my surrounds and immediately talked myself out of it. I could see my house from where I was standing. It was three blocks away. It would be absurd (not to mention embarrassing which is probably the real reason I didn’t follow the prompting) to go back and make her mom drive me home. After all, logic told me that I would be home faster if I just walked. In retrospect, had I paid attention I would have been off the main street and back in the complex where I wouldn’t have been seen thus avoiding the entire situation.
With determination (because I was scared for some reason unknown to me) I proceeded home with a quick step. I took in the fact that the whole neighborhood seemed especially quiet for a Saturday afternoon. Nobody was out, there were no cars coming or going. The wind was blowing enough that I had to keep one hand on my bag and one hand on my towel to keep it from blowing away. The wind was causing weird noises in the large, empty field across the street. My whole body was alert and my eyes kept scanning my surroundings. Something just didn’t feel right.
I had walked about a block when I heard a car make the turn onto the street and head my direction. I turned to see who was coming. We lived in a small neighborhood and so most everyone was familiar to me. This was a car that I didn’t know. It was a dark blue compact car but what really caught my attention was the fact that I couldn’t see the driver because the front window was tinted so dark that I couldn’t see in.
The car slowed behind me and I quickened my step. The car followed suit. I began to run, in flip flops with full arms (I would have beat Usain Bolt in that foot race). I heard the car screech to a halt, the car door open and running steps behind me. While running I turned my head to see if the other person was close which allowed me to see the man chasing me. I ran about 100 yards, turned the corner, ran up the stairs and straight into the house of an elderly lady exactly one block from my own home (good thing she didn’t lock her door but I did almost give her a heart attack). By the time she got to the window, he was gone. She walked me the rest of the way to my house and then my dad walked her back home.
Last night I was driving home after having dinner with a friend, the wind was kicked up and mad at the world, at some point I realized that I had been talking to (or rather trying to soothe) myself into stopping and getting the mail. I come home late all the time and stop to get the mail, it isn’t a big deal. The only difference . . . the wind was blowing and I had that eerie feeling that the wind seems to bring with it. I pulled in front of the mail box and literally had to tell myself that I was being nonsensical. I hurriedly got the mail and jumped back in my car practically laughing at myself for being a dork when it finally came back to me why the wind gave me that feeling. It reminds me of that day.
I don’t like to be by myself when it is windy. It is a small idiosyncrasy that I have attempted to ignore for as long as I can remember. When it is windy, there is an eerie sensation that fills my being. Honestly I don’t think that I have ever admitted this to anyone because I find it ridiculous and more importantly, I have never been able to explain it . . . that is until it finally dawned on me last night.
I had spent the night at a friend’s house. We had played in the pool at her complex most of the morning. After shoving my pajamas into my bag and throwing it over my shoulder, I told her goodbye and left to walk the three blocks to my house. I was all of 10 or 11 years old at the time, but I had walked that street countless times. I hadn’t bothered to change out of my swimming suit since I would just get home and get in the shower, so my outfit consisted of swimming suit, towel wrapped around my waist and flip-flops on my feet.
After walking out of the complex onto the main road, I had a thought that I should go back to my friend’s house and have her mom drive me home. I hesitated for a second while I took in my surrounds and immediately talked myself out of it. I could see my house from where I was standing. It was three blocks away. It would be absurd (not to mention embarrassing which is probably the real reason I didn’t follow the prompting) to go back and make her mom drive me home. After all, logic told me that I would be home faster if I just walked. In retrospect, had I paid attention I would have been off the main street and back in the complex where I wouldn’t have been seen thus avoiding the entire situation.
With determination (because I was scared for some reason unknown to me) I proceeded home with a quick step. I took in the fact that the whole neighborhood seemed especially quiet for a Saturday afternoon. Nobody was out, there were no cars coming or going. The wind was blowing enough that I had to keep one hand on my bag and one hand on my towel to keep it from blowing away. The wind was causing weird noises in the large, empty field across the street. My whole body was alert and my eyes kept scanning my surroundings. Something just didn’t feel right.
I had walked about a block when I heard a car make the turn onto the street and head my direction. I turned to see who was coming. We lived in a small neighborhood and so most everyone was familiar to me. This was a car that I didn’t know. It was a dark blue compact car but what really caught my attention was the fact that I couldn’t see the driver because the front window was tinted so dark that I couldn’t see in.
The car slowed behind me and I quickened my step. The car followed suit. I began to run, in flip flops with full arms (I would have beat Usain Bolt in that foot race). I heard the car screech to a halt, the car door open and running steps behind me. While running I turned my head to see if the other person was close which allowed me to see the man chasing me. I ran about 100 yards, turned the corner, ran up the stairs and straight into the house of an elderly lady exactly one block from my own home (good thing she didn’t lock her door but I did almost give her a heart attack). By the time she got to the window, he was gone. She walked me the rest of the way to my house and then my dad walked her back home.
Last night I was driving home after having dinner with a friend, the wind was kicked up and mad at the world, at some point I realized that I had been talking to (or rather trying to soothe) myself into stopping and getting the mail. I come home late all the time and stop to get the mail, it isn’t a big deal. The only difference . . . the wind was blowing and I had that eerie feeling that the wind seems to bring with it. I pulled in front of the mail box and literally had to tell myself that I was being nonsensical. I hurriedly got the mail and jumped back in my car practically laughing at myself for being a dork when it finally came back to me why the wind gave me that feeling. It reminds me of that day.
posted by B at
3:47 PM
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