Walk of Fate

"-I didn't expect him to follow me, he just, did."

It started out as an odd day and gradually just faded into an even weirder string of events. The alarm that sits on an old, wobbly nightstand next to my bed went off at its usual time, 5:00 a.m., but instead of beeping an incredibly obnoxious ring, it played Christmas music that's been on a radio station the antenna picked up. An instrumental of holiday jazz begun to fill the ears of both me and my sister, and the room with ecstatic energy. We both rose to stare at the clock and question why it had played tunes instead of ticks. Needless to say, I could've skipped school all day that day just to listen to 'Jingle Bells' by Michael Bublé, or anything by Mariah Carey so I could drink eggnog in peace.

I reluctantly reached over and turned the alarm off before I could be hypnotized for too long, earning a scowl from Alexa, my 11-year-old sister before she rolled back over to fall back to sleep. After letting out a groan myself, I threw off my blankets and stood up to make the bed before going to get ready for school.

I mentally check my morning to-do list to stamp showering, dressing, grabbing my bag, and reviewing that all the lights are turned off before leaving. Locking the door behind me, I began to shuffle to the meeting spot to wait for my friend that I walk to the campus with. It wasn't until I had gotten there that I realized what day of the week it was: Friday. On Fridays, my friend gets a ride from his mother who works just down the road from the school. I give myself a hard face-palm and scoff as I force my heels to turn completely as I begin to take the sidewalk to the school. It's about ten blocks away from my apartment complex and is, fortunately, just a straight path along the road past some houses and gas stations. I didn't mind walking either since I enjoyed the exercise and the scenery of vines growing up the walls. I would pass and vacant alleyways I'd peer down to check if it was safe to continue walking or if I'd have to go around to avoid someone or something. The silence created a more peaceful atmosphere that would be easier to walk in than if it had been muggy or crowded. Thank god I don't live in the center of a large city.

I always stop by the first gas station to buy a fresh ice tea with a small bag of chips for the morning stroll and have practically become a regular to all the clerks I've seen at the counter. I pay the same amount every time, so they know what to ring into the cash register before I even step up to them.

Today was one of the woman workers, Tonya, who looked maybe in her late twenties, early thirties, ready with my order and awaiting my card, but I decided to grab two other items before reaching the front of the store and Tonya almost seemed worried if I'd become sick or something, but I assured her that the Christmas Cookies and Slim Jim I grabbed was just to give me more of a spice this morning to celebrate the first day of December. She understood and swiped everything to display my ten dollar-total which I paid as quickly as I could before waving to her and shoving almost everything I bought into my bag. Running out of there to make up for lost time, I pushed my ear-buds back into my ears and continued walking with twenty minutes left to get to the school.

The time sped by faster than planned and I realized that there was still 10 minutes left, with the school in sight. I pulled out my phone to change the current song playing when all of a sudden, I heard a noise after the pause between playlists that stopped my thoughts. I muted the song and halted myself with earbuds now out of my ears as I try to hear the voice better. It sounded like a squeal or whine of an animal, which got me worried that there's something I'm definitely not seeing that I should.

I turn around completely and look down to see that someone had followed me.

A dog, about medium height with a coat pattern you couldn't find on Google and eye color that matched the surface of the Caribbean reefs. Fur knotted in soil and covered in, what looked like, rainwater from the previous days' thunderstorm. The physical structure of the dog looks mildly healthy and in shape, but the appearance gives away the impression that it's been outside for quite some time. Perhaps it was someone's pet who'd just gotten lose or broke free of its yard.