Wet Pavements at Folksville

Dorothy doesn't want to be in school anymore. She hates the system – how the professors label their students by numbers and not by names, and how they grade a student's artwork based on their preferences. "An art school should be an art school; an art is an expression of one's self, there is no need for an approval," says usually by Dorothy. She began smoking three days ago, when she stormed out of the room when the professor harshly criticized her classmate for showcasing his own style of painting in their class. She believes that it is her classmate's style and he doesn't deserve the harsh criticism. That day, she just could not take it anymore. She decided not to attend the art institute any longer. She wants to be home, on the Southern part of the country and be in her grandma's arms instead of being in a polluted city. Dorothy hates how people do not pay attention on each other's company; instead, they keep looking at their tiny screens – their phones – as if their whole life depended on it.

She likes the city's park because it resembles the South, and it does not have much people. Besides, people in the city are too busy with their lives and they do not get to enjoy what the nature has to offer. The park became her best friend when she skips school, along with her pack of cigarettes and coconut ice cream – it becomes a routine to her: to sit at the park's bench, to smoke cigarettes while savoring her coconut ice cream.

During one of her daily routines at the park, rain has started – causing the city people with their clicking heels and crisp suits to move like panicked ants. Dorothy remained rooted on the park's bench, smoking and licking her ice cream as if nothing has happened. The rain begins pouring harder, but Dorothy still does not abandon her place, until an umbrella covered her from the rain – a big yellow umbrella held by a man in an all-black suit.

"What a weird sight to smoke a cigarette on one hand, and eat ice cream on the other," said by the man in an all-black suit while sitting beside Dorothy.

"Who are you, anyway?" Dorothy is scared; she does not know how people from the city function, what if this man has a motive; but the man's sad eyes, strangely accompanied by a cheerful manner of speaking, made her trust him somehow.

"I like your southern accent, very gentle yet it has an edge to it – I like it." The man does not mean to sound it as if she is mocking her; however his tone has built up a reaction from Dorothy. Her brows are beginning to meet – mad and offended.

"Are you one of those city fellas, who mock people from provinces? Oh man, how I hate that type."

"Lick your ice cream! It's melting! And for goodness' sake, throw that cigarette away. Besides, it's dripping wet."

Dorothy does not know the man, yet she finds him amusing, maybe because it is the first time she talked to someone since she decided to quit school. How he talks and his reactions are so cheerful that it is almost child-like. She wonders why a man like him will dress in a sharp black suit. She thinks, he is far too exuberant to dress in such a way.

"Thanks for placing an umbrella over my head. By the way, the color of your umbrella overpowers the suit. A bright yellow umbrella and an all-black suit – wow," Dorothy's voice slowly becomes soft and calm, different from the mad and accusing tone a while ago.

"Father's wake," the man said looking straight ahead as if nothing has happened.

Dorothy does not know what to offer this man, he may be a stranger, but Dorothy feels she is in the place to comfort him. His voice may be cheerful, but his eyes reveal his other side. She has nothing but her sketch book, pencils, cigarettes, and ice cream parlor coupons in her bag. Dorothy decides to comfort him through the latter.