I came to a clearing and was surprised at my elevation. I could see the city, including the thin
layer of smog that hung over it. I was
thankful to not be sitting back at my desk, working hard to make other people
rich, shuffling papers, fielding phone calls all the while watching the
clock. OK, so maybe I wasn’t working all
that hard. Even so, it felt good to be
up here in the clear air, away from the freeway, city traffic and craziness.
Most people think a single vacation day is a waste of time,
but I like it. Just one day to break up
the week, to clear my head. Just then,
as I stood there thinking about the Roberts report I still had to get
done by Friday, a red fox came trotting past me. I thought for sure he’d notice me standing
there, but he didn’t. Not sure what a
fox would have on his mind but whatever it was, it was enough to distract him
from noticing me.
I was annoyed at myself for being in this wonderful place
but thinking about the Roberts report.
I’m not really getting away from it all if I bring it with me. I needed to focus on something else. I tried to see the exact spot where the fox
had disappeared into the woods, but then I noticed a plume of black smoke
rising up from downtown. I figured that
had to be a fairly big fire to see the smoke from this far away. Suddenly I
heard the explosion. There must have
been a delay in the sound getting here.
Yikes!
That’s going to throw a wrench into city traffic. It was always bad but whenever something out
of the ordinary happened, everything would fall into a complete tangle.
Well, that got the Roberts report off my mind for the
moment. I wonder what happened. I’m sure I'll hear all about it tomorrow.
I wandered over to the far edge of the clearing and sat on a fallen tree, setting my backpack against it. I dug out my sandwich and bottled water. This looks to be a fine place for lunch, I thought to myself. Then I pulled out my copy of Stranger in the Woods, by Michael Finkel. I was about halfway through it. It’s great story but it is always hard to find any uninterrupted reading time around work. No matter where I sneak off to during lunch, someone always finds me and wants to talk or gossip about someone.
Even though I
was trying to concentrate on my book, off in the distance I could hear the
sirens from the fire trucks. I stood up and looked towards the smoke. It was still going strong, whatever it was. It must have been more than just a
fender-bender, I thought. Maybe even a
building fire. From the sirens it seemed
like a lot more than just a single firetruck. I sat back down and picked up
where I had left off in my story.
I didn’t
bother to look at the time, it just felt like I should be heading back down
into the city. I’d be back at my desk
tomorrow and I was sure I’d hear all about the fire and excitement that I
missed today. At the bottom of the trail
I tossed my pack and trash into the trunk of my car and drove back into the
city. As I got closer, I could feel the
smog start to sting my eyes. Why do I
live here, I asked myself, even though I’ve asked myself that all the time.
I was happy
to see that it hadn’t been my apartment building that had gone up in smoke. Everything looked normal and the parking
garage was as full as ever, and my spot was vacant, as it should be. Once in my apartment, however, I could see
the light on my answering machine flashing.
The number of messages flashing was 9.
Never had I had that many messages.
I pushed play and walked to the fridge to grab a beer.
Ted, the office building burnt down. It’s all gone. Everything’s gone. Call me.
This is Linda.
Call me when you get this Ted. Bill.
Hey Ted, you weren’t here. The police are looking for you. They have some questions. Where were you? Give me a call. This is Bill Evens.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I stopped the machine and just sat for a
minute sipping my beer and thinking about that fox disappearing into the woods.
I certainly didn’t need to worry about
the Robert’s report. Not now.
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