Someone's hand removes small cat-like creatures from a wet plastic bag. They look like round urchin shells and cats. Half of their bodies are furry and the other half, shells. That someone's hand puts them in salt water and I watch as the fur quickly morphs into shell.
The Almost Stolen Wallet
It's summer. The trees are full with leaves and the air is warm. I am riding my bicycle home from work. It's an unusual route that takes me further away from home. I park on top of a hill and decide to take the bus back. The bus stop looks abandoned, as though the bus might forget me if I were to wait there. Still, I wait with my bicycle in the warm summer sun. There are large bushes behind me and a tree covering up the bus stop sign. A man approaches me. He tells me that the bus isn't going to come for me here, that I should go to another bus stop. So I take my bike and head towards another bus stop. The man grabs my wallet from my bag. I try to run after him, but instead stand there and demand he drop my wallet. He turns around, smirks and dumps the entire content of my wallet into a bush. Everything, I say. Even my debit card. He hands over my debit card. I feel like I've won.
The Dolly Madison Parking Lot
I'm getting ready for work and taking longer than usual. I decide to take the 6:30 am class at the gym and bring all of my stuff with me and my bicyle. The parking lot of the gym looks like the parking lot of a Dolly Madison ice cream shop that was close to my grandparents house in Denver. There are hundreds of bike parking spots, but they are filled with kids bikes, most of which have no wheels. Some sort of church potluck is happening in the parking lot as well. "Nancy made Thai food. She did her best to make it authentic." I hear a woman say. I look at the remand pink sweet looking food in aluminum containers and head inside, wondering if I should remove my red lipstick.
Vancouver and the 10 Year Old
Vancouver, BC. I'm with friends and strangers, but the friends also seem like strangers since I haven't seen them in ages. We are outside of an Italian restaurant. I'm also waiting for a coworker and her 10 year old daughter. I notice a blister forming on my right eyelid and ask one of the friends/strangers to look at it. My coworker arrives with her daughter and we all begin to drink. I wander off with my friend's daughter. We laugh a lot and question whether or not we should become pranksters. I suddenly feel like I am 10 years old too.
