Nanoprep 2016 Day 3: Great Walk
By Robin de Voh on 2016-10-13
It was a nice night, Antony thought while he crossed the street. Autumn had just started and the fresh air outside was pleasant. Others complained it was suddenly too cold, that they wanted summer to come back, but he always liked the colder months. In the summer, meeting up with people always involved crowded places and too many new faces. Now, meeting up was often at someone's house or in a bar. He'd always been more confident in those situations.
He took a good, deep breath and smiled. It'd been a great idea to go for a walk. Getting out of the house was getting more and more difficult now that he worked from home. Kacey had been busy with her own job so they hadn't been able to meet up much this past week. But that was okay, because he had a lot of work to get done too.
He took a right and walked through the park gates. It would close in an hour, and he'd planned his walk so that he could make a detour through here before it did.
It looked beautiful, atmospheric yellow light shining on green and red leaves, people walking around hand in hand. He passed a homeless man and gave him a dollar, getting an honest smile in return.
There were young people -- not really kids, given the time of day -- skating in the half-pipe. Antony remembered how he always wanted to skate but was too scared to do so. His friends did, however, and he usually played spectator to their stunts.
How time flies, and how life changes, he thought. He enjoyed his job, editor for a web-only magazine, but he also realized and remembered the things he had to give up to make it work. He'd turned one hobby into his career, but had also stopped other hobbies as a result. He considered what he could do to maybe get back into them, at least a little.
He realized he'd been staring at the skaters for a few minutes now and shook his head. Smiling, he turned and continued walking.
He saw a couple sitting on a bench, their faces close together, muttering to each other so that nobody else could possibly hear them. Kacey and Antony were like that at first, but as it always does, the puppy love made way for something more solid, something more real. It became a true partnership, where the infatuation and sheer excitement had made place for an unbreakable bond and complete trust.
Funny, he thought, how there's a similarity between relationships and work. How when you get serious about one, you forget about other things and really focus.
He'd never forgotten his friends, of course, but in his relationship with Kacey he'd gotten more serious, and so had she.
Again he considered something; would it be possible to get some more excitement back? To do something spontaneous from time to time? Just like how he felt he wanted to reconnect to his hobbies?
Of course, he thought. Why not? It wasn't as if the road back was blocked off. It's not as if once you move to a 'next' part of something, you're stuck there. He really hoped that wasn't true, anyway, since that would be a terrifying thing.
He fumbled in his pocket for his phone. He tapped Kacey's speed dial icon.
"Hey, Kace."
"Hey! I was just thinking of you." she said, sounding pleased.
"So, I know you're busy with work, and I'm also supposed to be, but do you want to go and grab a drink?"
"Now?" She paused. "Yes. I would like that a lot."
Antony smiled.
"Great, meet at the Jackson?"
"Sure, I can make it out there in half an hour. But, err, where'd this come from?"
"Oh, nowhere. Just on a really good walk, had some time to think."
"And you thought of me, awww," she said, teasing.
"Indeed I did. Also, I think I want to go get some art supplies this weekend. I think I might want to get back into painting."
"That's great! I'll come along."
"Cool! See you in a bit?"
"Absolutely."
They wrapped up and he put his phone back into his pocket.
"Great walk," he said while walking towards the park gates, smiling.