So Close

Special Stranger

It was a completely normal day. You were sitting under your favorite tree at the park, drawing, when you saw a man. The was something different about this man. He was fairly short, and he had fluffy, black hair. He was walking a dog, presumably a golden retriever. He met your eyes, smiled, and waved at you. You timidly waved back. You usually didn't like talking to people. Trying to interact with new, unfamiliar people terrified you, but something about this man's bright smile made you want to go say hello to him.

You gathered up your pencils and paper and started to head home. You lowered your head to the ground and started walking quickly.

"Hey, watch out!" Before you could react to those words, you fell to the ground as a familiar dog sniffed you curiously.

"Hey, sorry about that!" The man laughed as he helped you up and picked up the papers that were knocked out of your hands.

"Oh, that's okay!" You laughed and pet the dog, "you're dog is very sweet!"

"Her name's Chica," he examined your drawings, "whoah, these are amazing! Did you draw these?"

"Yeah, I drew them," you blushed as he saw the drawing you made of him and Chica on the sidewalk, with the man smiling brightly.

"Wow, this is awesome! You're an amazing artist..."

"(y/n)." You filled in.

"Ah, (y/n). My name's Mark. Care to walk with me?" You nodded shyly, and he returned your nod with a shy smile.

You two walked for a while. You talked about just everything, and you eventually got to your careers. Mark told you about his YouTube career, and you told him about you trying to get some of your art published.

"I work an office job. I'd like to be an artist someday, but I just don't think I'm good enough."

"Well for what it's worth, I think you are." Mark said, looking at you with his chocolate brown eyes.

"Thanks, Mark. I'm glad you like them."

"I really like how you drew Chica."

"Thank you!"

"Need a ride?" Mark said suddenly, gesturing to what you assumed was his car.

You didn't live very far away, but you didn't want to pass up the chance to spend more time with Mark.

"Sure!" You gave him your address. In a few minutes, he pulled up to your house.

"Thanks for the ride, Mark!" You stepped out of the car.

"Thank you for the walk, (y/n)." Mark smiled, "we should totally hang out some time."

"Yeah, for sure!" You chirped.

Mark scribbled something on a paper and handed it to you, "send me a text sometime. See ya around, (y/n)."

"See ya, Mark."

You watched as Mark drove away and went inside, intrigued by this new friend.