Wicked Games

6. Don't It Make My Green Eyes Blue

 

                                6. DON'T IT MAKE MY GREEN EYE'S BLUE

Most are in agreement that walking is the best exercise in the world and rightly so. But what they fail to mention is that if you have no clue on pacing yourself or whatever else goes into the strategic fore-planning of speed walking - or walking in general – there can be dire consequences. If you are not used to stretching your legs, for what felt like was an infinity, then it will take a toll – your limbs will feel like they are being ripped apart in a slow and torturous fashion and it is as if your stomach has taken a rather large and hard beating.

Well, that summed up my physical state at the time. Although, this saying was not without a reason, because it felt very therapeutic and given the fact that I had more than the average share of therapy sessions behind me, one can rest assured as my opinion was more than reliable.

Nonetheless, I wandered through the morning with nothing but the sound of the odd birds here and there – though, if I strained my ears, I could separate out the gentle hustle and bustle of animals going about their everyday routines. That was until the unnecessarily loud horn of a car terrified the living daylights out of them and caused them to scuttle away in different directions.

After the realisation of my new-found privileges sunk in, it further dawned on me that no self-respecting person would possibly be awake at this time of the morning so after taking a couple of dodgy turns, I eventually found my way into the central high street. Glancing around for anything open and coming up empty at this ungodly hour, I decided to grasp at the rare opportunity of a Manchester evening with room to breathe and just sightsee, letting sheer human curiosity be my only guide. That night, sheer human curiosity led me to the Town Centre.

It was a nice experience; no one was out. On the off chance, you could catch a couple of old veterans cruising the streets with their dogs, and I all but sighed in relief when I saw that they were on tight leashes, but I wasn’t going to take any chances and made sure to walk on the other side of the road.

After surviving that near-fatal encounter, I spotted a large park nearby and decided that since it was daylight, I shouldn't need to hesitate on the grounds of coming across any more drunkards or that there would be any kind of danger looming behind faded shadows. As I neared, my eyes zeroed in on the unarguable centre-piece of the park – a sizeable lake decorated with swans and ducks gliding across it at their own leisurely pace.

I spent a lot of time there, occupying myself with searching the outskirts of the pond and underneath benches for forgotten bread pieces. When I was satisfied with my collection, I crossed the board-walk and sat with my legs folded over and underneath each other, and threw the pieces of bread to my grateful audience.

It was as if someone had injected me into another person's body but as the light wind wisped against

my face, I knew it could make the angriest of people feel serene. Maybe it was the world’s way of warning me of what lay ahead; the calm before the storm.

Guessing that I may kill these defenceless creatures from overfeeding them and that getting a sentence slapped in my face the very next day I got out would be too idiotic of a move for any court to show mercy to, I got up and carried on with my thought provoking walk. Walking for a good hour or two, I somehow managed to follow all the signs and before I knew it, I caught Jason’s House in eye distance.