One, two, three full turns in the keyhole and the door was locked. Place the keys underneath the dignified clay buddha grinning cheekily on the porch steps. The old mans knee joints sounded like popcorn as he descened the three porch steps. Three more steps and he was at the gate. Take a right and he began to haul his stringy frail body step by step away from his house.
The moist july heat was tight but he didnt let it bother him. His feet kept moving, as constant as a ticking clock. Lifted up so that he was not quite jogging but putting too much effort in for it to be walking. He went past the Kalbs house, Mrs. Kalb outside with lemonade. Wave.
Three more houses down the suburbia came to an abrupt halt and the high school started. There was a message board outside that said something new every day. Today it preached „dinner tonight for local girl scout troup 568 @ 5pm“. A minivan speeds by, slowing ten miles an hour as it aproaches the jogger. Wave.
Take a right at the intersection opposite the law firm where he had spent thirty years of his life committing to. Into the empty park except for a lonely squirrel examining a recently abandoned picnic table. Take another right onto a path less travelled. Ascending at a rate that made his breath quicken by two.
After 12 hurried steps the trail became a small outlook with a rickety, grafitiied bench overlooking the lake and in the distance, the bustling city. If he strained his ancient eyes he could see his house, hidden by some oak trees ancient, but when he had planted them shortly after buying his house, they wouldnt have even been considered saplings.
He let his body rest a moment on the bench, and thought back to a night which felt like it could have been yesterday. Sitting there with the girl he knew he would spend forever with. It was as if he could feel every emotion stirring up in him that he had felt that day. Anxious, excited, nervous, and so, so, alive. The moment when she said Yes.
Skipping forward to her beautiful face glowing up at him with their first child. Thanksgiving dinner, burning the potatoes yet everything was still perfect. Holding her as they waved goodbye to their child driving to college. Holding her hand and feeling her heart beat in time with the hospital moniter.
He got up and went back down the trail, slower this time. Back through the park, relishing the shade provided by the trees. Past a gas station, a druggerie, a bakery. He caught a look at himself in the reflection. Recogniyed the old man struggling along as the young boy he ocne was, with a body and mind and will that said he could acheive anything. Five more shops and an abandoned building. Accross the bridge.
His feet led him home, third house on the right. An effort to reach down and grab the keys from under cheerful buddha. Three and a half full circles of the key to the left and the door was unlocked.
He opened the door and went inside.
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