I woke up to a dark thunderous rainy morning where the raindrops were falling hard and fast like a marching band banging on their drums. Even though I had another hour or so to sleep I decided to get up and start my day.  It would have been hard to sleep anyway with all that noise.

I did my usual morning routine, putting the TV and the coffee on while I shaved and took a shower. Being that I had extra time, I decided to make myself some eggs, toast and watch the news. There is something to be said for waking up early, it’s nice not having to rush and relax a bit which is something that I can’t do often. 

With my raincoat and umbrella in hand out I went out into the pouring rain. I already knew by listening to the news that some of the subway lines that I take were suspended due to flooding so I had to take the bus, no taxis for me too expensive for my blood. It was going to be a long commute for sure.  I live on the upper east side of New York City and I had to go down to 14th St.

The bus stop was crowded with people all huddled together waiting for the bus under the enclosed area. After watching a few buses drive by with no room, one was finally going to stop with standing room only. Thankfully I was able to get in and find a place to stand and I was on my way. It’s amazing how one gets to know a little about the lives of others in a crowded situation such as this bus.

For example, in front of me, there were these teen girls, talking about how their parents are terrible because they don’t like the boyfriends they were dating. How this one is too old for you and the other comes from a bad family. They go on to explain how they cover for each other in order to sneak out and see their boyfriends. I wonder if I was like that at their age or if my kids will do the same to me.

Close to me was this man who looked and smelled like he hadn’t seen a shower in weeks, boy, that was tough, the smell was like an old pair of smelly socks filled with moldy cheese. Getting a whiff of him was just too much to take, in fact, if we were outside there probably would be buzzards circling around him.  Each time the bus stopped I was praying for him to get off.  Guess what? He’s still on the bus!

Further down in the bus there were a couple of guys talking loudly about the upcoming election and politics.  One was saying how the president is this and that while the others were debating who would be a good candidate for the Republican party. Politics is one area I try to avoid. Why? Because it is a subject that people feel very strongly about and I have seen many friendships go bad because of it.

Thanks to the guy near me I learned what guys would like to do to girls as his headphones were just loud enough for me to hear one rap song after another. Sitting a few feet away from me was this young woman wearing religious garb with the head scarf and long skirt covering her legs looking nervously at these 2 men who were staring at her. She could hear them talking about how these people come to our country while hating us at the same time. I stopped to think for a moment how she would feel and whether or not the guys were right in how they felt. It’s a topic that always seems to come up, especially these days.

This was one morning I shouldn’t have left my headphones at home. I could have used them to tune out what was around me. The rudeness, the anger, the hopelessness that some people feel. the lack of consideration for those who talk loud as if we want to hear what they were saying. Or to the lady talking on her cell phone making plans for the upcoming weekend. Who cares whether she wants to go out with Bob to a concert or to a fancy expensive restaurant with Kevin. It’s not my concern, I don’t care.

I can’t believe it but my stop is finally coming up. I move pushing and squeezing my way towards the back door. The door slowly opens as I get out into the pouring rain looking to open my umbrella, realizing that I must have dropped it while getting out of the bus. Not to my surprise, no one bothered to tell me, just great.

Well, I finally reached my destination getting out of that noisy, smelly bus and into the fresh rainy air only to get soaking wet, at this point, I don’t know which was worse.  Maybe I should have slept a little longer this morning. Oh well, I guess it’s just another morning commute in the city.

                                             The Wait

The clouds were moving in covering the sunny blue skies while the winds were starting to pick up as rain was slowly about to creep in.  Griffin was still a few blocks away from home so he started to walk faster trying to avoid the rain and getting drenched.

Having no umbrella and wearing his good suit, he definitely did not want to get soaked so he started to run through the streets jumping over the puddles he saw., although it really shouldn’t matter as his shirt was already covered in dirt and red stains.

The streets were not that crowded considering it was in the middle of the day, which was just fine for Griffin. One more block and he would be home as it started to sprinkle and get darker. He heard thunder and lightning nearby and you can tell it was going to pour.

With keys in hand, he made it towards the building and into the lobby. He didn’t want to wait for the elevator so he took the stairs since it was only 3 flights up.

Once inside he threw his bag filled with papers onto the couch and rushed to close the windows that were left open. He took his jacket, his tie off along with his shirt and changed into his sweats.

“It wasn’t supposed to be this way”, Griffin said as he started pacing back and forth in his bedroom. Walking towards the living room he picked up his cell phone looking for messages, “nothing, nothing” he yelled.  This wasn’t his first, but it seemed like Griffin was waiting for something important and hated the fact that he had no control over it.

Griffin looked around the room with his eyes gazing at the floor, mumbling words as he continued to pace. He walked over to the window looking down the street watching people going about their business

Griffin was anxious as well as being nervous, feeling a bit helpless at times. “What could I have done differently? ” he blurted out. He walked over to the bathroom turned on the water to wash the dirt from his face and hands. As he was drying his hands, his cell phone started to ring, dropping the towel to the floor he rushed over to answer the phone, but it was only a telemarketer trying to sell him something.

Over by the counter, there was a stack of bills staring at Griffin, some of which read “past due”. He went over to look at them up, took a handful in his hand, as he was going through them he just kept on shaking his head in disgust. How can a man who was well schooled, with a good background and a family to support, be in this situation, he thought?

At that moment, there were police sirens coming from the street, Griffin rushed to the window to see what was happening. There were flashing lights as they drove past the street with the sirens become harder to hear. There was no reason why he should be jumpy, but sometimes one cannot help being in a state of nervousness.

He wipes the sweat that was dripping from his forehead and heads towards the kitchen to have some coffee. As luck will have it there was just enough for one cup.

THE END          (Why was Griffin so worried?)

  “I Forgot”

This was an idea that I had but was unable to figure where and how I wanted to go with it. I may re-visit this at another time because I like the possibilities. For now here are a couple of short-shorts to read. Hope you like them

“I forgot”, the smell of freshly baked cookies flowing in the air while sitting in front of the TV watching my favorite shows. Mom, as usual, would be busy in the kitchen waiting to take them out of the oven. I could hardly wait to eat them. The way the chocolate melted and how the dough stretched as you bit into the cookie was so amazing.

I was pretty sure I could have at least two since dinner was still hours away and for dad to come home. I can hear the kids playing out on the street, the girls were jump roping while the guys were tossing around a football. The thought of missing those warm delicious cookies melting in my mouth was just too good to miss. So instead I looked at the window while they played and my nose was on the lookout for the cookies to be ready.

“I forgot”, what it was like to get excited about that first date. There was always that energy, the excitement of being with someone new. You know the feeling, butterflies in your stomach, trying to plan the evening as to where to go and what to do. Oh, let’s not forget what to wear, yes that was a big one.

The nervous energy while driving to pick her up only fueled my anxiety. You have all sorts of things going through your mind; “what is she wearing, will she like what I am wearing, what does she like or dislike, what foods she eats, what are her tastes and so on”. Will there be chemistry between us? Will she smile at me or hold my hand when you say something sweet or funny. That warm feeling you get inside when things are going well. There is nothing like it. 

We all have been there at some point in our lives, I hope. Whether you are a guy or a girl I am sure the feelings are the same for both perhaps they may be filled with different emotions and anxieties.

Can you remember what it felt like? I guess anything that is special or unique that you do for the first time has an intensity to it that you just can’t get the second time around. You may get other feelings but not like that.

“I forgot” what it was like watching TV without all those commercials, right? It’s one after the other, back to back to back. By the time, the show returns you already forgot what the heck you were watching.

How about those commercials for prescription medicines. You know the kind where it solves one problem, but it may create about 10 to 20 other problems. Don’t you just love the warnings, “this may create heart attacks, shortage of breath, harm your liver, your kidneys, even death” but hey don’t worry at least you won’t have any more gas pains!

The other types of commercials that are annoying are the ones from the attorney’s where they want you to sue anybody for anything that may have happened. It’s like, hurry don’t waste any more time, go and sue this one or that one before your time runs out. They say they care about you, “shouldn’t you get what you deserve,” (but hey let’s not forget to mention the fact that they will happily take at least a third of what you get).

Some of them even want to sue the makers of the very same prescriptions mentioned above because it may have attributed to some sort of illness. How ironic? The fact that you knew the possible side effects before you took them, I guess it doesn’t matter, does it?

“I forgot”  How much fun it was… Ohh, Damn! This time, I really forgot what the hell I forgot.

There was a howling in the air as the winds were swirling. It was not a night to be walking out in the woods, but Rye and Jack had no choice, their car had just broken down about a mile and a half away.

It was early Friday evening, with no special plans, they decided to go out for a drive. Rye wanted Jack to go up to the north side where the lake was.

Rye had heard stories about strange happenings that occurred around there which peaked his interest.

“We have never driven there before,” Rye said, let’s check it out!

Strange happenings? Well, Jack wasn’t exactly sure what Rye had meant by that, but to a 17-year-old, it was enough to peak his curiosity. All was going great as they were heading up to the north side, with the windows down, music playing, driving through hills lined with tall trees and large rocks.

As they were driving all of a sudden the car was starting to run erratic, it didn’t have the energy it had earlier, but they continued to go on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before Jacks car had slowed down to crawl, eventually not running at all.  The car finally died out about 2 to 3 miles away from the lake.

Jack opened the hood to see what was going wrong but couldn’t find anything. The car was only 13 years old with over 95,000 miles on it. It was a gift from his dad who bought the car from an auction about 4 months ago. Realizing they wouldn’t be able to start the car they were pondering their next move when almost instantly they both yelled out “cell phones!”.

After several attempts, they finally realized they were not going to get a signal of any kind from where they were. So they locked all the doors took their personal belongings and started to walk, but which way?

Not being familiar with this area they weren’t sure which way they should go. While driving towards the lake area they didn’t remember seeing anything that they could go back to for help, so they decided to continue towards the lake, they felt confident that they would run into someone that could help them. Plus there was still enough daylight left for them to go back if needed, so off they went towards the lake.

Jack said to Rye “it was a good thing they both wore their sneakers” with all the rocks, hills, and mud lined grounds, it was easier for them to move around. They have been walking for a while now with no cars driving by or any people. Rye was starting to wonder why, as he always heard that teens would frequent the area for drinking and partying, especially since it was Friday with the weekend just starting.

The winds were getting stronger with the trees shaking as they both were getting thirsty and tired. They stopped for a bit to finish whatever was left in their water bottles before they started their journey again. All they saw were trees, rocks, more trees, old empty beer cans, bottles were all along the road as they were walking through it.

With the clouds moving in it was getting darker sooner than they expected, with no ability to contact or find anyone for help, things were getting a little tense for both of them.  As Jack was walking along, he noticed something near the wooded area on the right side of the road. He went to get a closer look and noticed there were footprints, a set of small and large footprints, that looked that they were recently made. Jack yelled out “RYE! check this out!” Rye ran over and looked at Jack and said “holy crap” these look fresh”

They both let their imaginations get the best of them as they remember watching many a movie about being stuck in the woods. Upon looking at the prints again something seemed a little off about them.

Yes, they looked like barefoot prints or perhaps some kind of footwear that would make prints like that; but why would anyone walk in the bare feet out here? Would they?

At this point, they both agreed to follow the prints because they were running out of options. So off they went, following the footprints, hoping for the best.

Meanwhile, all the way, down the hill, near the entrance where Jack and Rye entered the area, a Jeep pulled over and a man got out. He was a local ranger who noticed that the sign prohibiting entrance to the area was missing. He looked around and found it behind the rocks, where branches had fallen over it.

He picked it up and moved it back to the entrance and hoped no one entered the area. He looked at his watch, he was running late, so he placed the sign back up, secured it to the best of his ability and drove off.

The sign read, DO NOT ENTER AREA CLOSED DUE TO…

To be continued…

What happened to Jack and Rye in the woods?