1. He was walking down the street with a Dog Poop Bag in his Hand

Just minding his own business on a perfect fall day -well not minding his business but rather watching the leaves just trickle down from the oak tree in the park. The dog was doing what dogs do and was jerking his right arm out the socket as the walk wanted to go one way and the the dog wanted to go the other way. That explains the dog poop bag hanging limply from his left hand and the sight he must make on this perfect day as his dog yanks at his hand and then scanning the park for a trash can to deposit the bag in his left hand.

It seemed like too many of his days lately had been spent like this, walking alone and taking it all in as there was a stir in the air, a rustle to the leaves that hopefully hinted at a change on the horizon. Change is not always good but in the case it felt like his life had been lacking the movement and change needed in life. It seemed lately that the common ground in his life was how life was remaining the same as yesterday and the day before and those days were not exactly something to write home about. But still it was predictable and not the grease fire he had projected a few months ago.

The canine (well its a crazy beagle) pulled at the leash toward a sun lit patch drenched in autumn's tilted sun light and the pulling on the leash made him clench both fists and, remembering the bag in the other hand, he let the leash go and the crazy beagle nose twitching
just kind of ended in a patch of ivy by the fountains in the park. A look into the sun kind of made him dizzy for a second ....

Only for a second or two as a subtle breeze further hinting at fall kind of brought him back to reality and the here and now, which for a brief glimpse he hated and he abhored how these brief glimpses always out weighed every thing else that was going well in life and for this brief second he couldn't remember any of them, or exactly where that crazy dog of his was.

He envied the runners who glided by with there own little pert happy sinewy smiles and wished he could join them and, for a brief second he kind of recognized a girl in the head phones he had run with a few years ago and from the look of things he probably might not be able to run with her as nagging injuries had slowed him a bit and eventually the vision of her just gliding by made him drift a bit and once again notice the different bend in the light filtering through the trees.

And some lyrics just popped through his
automatic thought process that he had no control
over, none they just happened....

and feel such peace and absolute
The stillness still that doesn't end
But slowly drifts into sleep
The stars are the greatest thing you've ever seen

The lyrics to an old song, they are always there and light of autumn thats bends and twists just differently than the rest of the year.

And a gentle tap on the shoulder
And the realization that he is holding a bag of poop in his hand, and it didn't radiate before but somehow it was warm in his hand and the tap on his shoulder turned into a nudge to shoulder
that said.

"Hey You".

The bending light of autumn made her hair more twisted than he remembered. But he wasn't really used to talking and thinking at the same time, well more specifically talking as so much of his time was spent either running, working at a job he marginally liked and basically avoiding people which was odd for the extrovert that he usually was.

he looked at her furtivly and said.....Patty..?