Unexpected

Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Summer. The best time of the year for me ever since I was in kindergarten. The warmth of the sun, wide availability of swimming pools, and the lack of school made it the best time of year even though I preferred autumn's colors and cool nights. This was my last true summer, however. I'd just finished my last year of college and was now applying for a job, so never again would I be able to just have a summer vacation.

These were the thoughts that spun in my mind as I tromped through Central Park, New York as a lovely summer night was falling. The air around me was cooling off, the sun having set, and a light breeze pulled at the tips of my blond hair. Even though the sun was gone for the day, New York still shone bright with all its glowing advertisements and car headlights. The city that never sleeps with its honking horns, chatting people, and other constant noises was even busier during the summer, when people could mosey about later and for longer, and tonight was no exception. Even the quiet park wasn't emptied out.

Along with me in the park there was a couple walking some sort of a puffball of a dog and a few groups of people strolling, enjoying the park. Beneath these trees the urban noises faded away into the background and the air tasted fresher. I missed the grass, trees, and breathing room of my family's home. We had lived in suburbia, but there'd been a walking trail not too far away that went along a small clump of forest I had loved to wander through. It had been my quiet happy place. Now Central Park was my relatively quiet happy place. My little world away from the hullabaloo of the city.

Usually when I came here I could ignore the world, take a breath from my studies, and read or people-watch. I liked sitting here at a bench near the pond with my music playing, watching with people ambling about and the sun set. I'd always loved how the sunset would reflect off the water and the graceful willows would become black silhouettes as the night came on. Now that it was night; however, I was simply walking under the trees and lighted street lamps thinking about how quickly my summer was already fading away. Not exactly happy thoughts, but I wasn't exactly feeling happy.

In fact I was really rather disappointed, maybe even mad. I'd applied for several jobs, ones that I was more than qualified for, like being a journalist or translator, but I'd been turned down once again. This fact worried me, I'd need a real job before the end of the summer and the weeks were ticking by. My roommate, a good friend of mine named Renee, already had been hired and had a starting day set up, and here I was stuck in my minimal wage job. I was happy for Renee of course, but still. I'd always loved writing and reading, so I thought going into a literary, lingual field would be good for me. Of course I hadn't expected it to be easy or simple, but at least I'd thought it would be a good fit.

I'd actually ranted to Renee about this, which I don't usually do, before I went on my walk. She'd listened but now that she had a job, my problems seemed 'petty' to her in comparison to her problems. She'd always been that way though, so I couldn't say I was surprised. Her way and her problems took precedence and although she now had a nice job all lined up she was still a very irresponsible woman. At the least, she had a bit of a drinking problem. Several weekend nights in the past I stayed up with her and cared for her as she nursed the after-effects of a night out at a club. Sometimes I wondered why I was her friend, but the fact is that if I wasn't there for her, she'd sink and there'd be no one to catch her, and anyways when she was in a good mood she was rather sweet and caring. Just not tonight, so I'd gone on a walk to clear my mind, which hadn't worked apparently. Renee and her self-absorption were still rattling around in my mind.

I realized I'd been staring at my feet as I'd been walking. So looking up, I found that I was at the very edge of the park now. How long had I been walking? Checking my phone I saw that I should probably start heading home. It was late now, closing in around 11 o'clock, and the sky was black against the bright city lights and I had work in the morning and it usually took hours of me tossing and turning in bed for me to fall asleep, so heading back now was probably wise. Waiting at a stop light I watched as cars drove by, thinking of how just at this one intersection there was probably over a hundred people all scurrying off in their own lives. I smirked at the word 'scurry'; it had made the people sound like rodents rushing about. 'Zooming about' would probably be a better description considering all the cars, motorcycles, and trains this city contained.