Shadow

An atypical wind blew as I rounded a corner and blew my umbrella inside-out. I inverted it back to its former form, but one support was permanently bent in the wrong direction. To prevent any further mishaps, I put it away until the breeze died down. I closed up the compact ersatz parasol and struggled to secure it with it's aging, fuzzy Velcro closure. Once successful, I hung it from my left wrist by the loop on the handle.

As I rounded a corner, I swung my arm slightly and the top flung off of the the handle. Though I can't seem to remember the fact, the screw that secured the two pieces was lost more than a year ago. I bent down to pick it up and noticed that two women were sitting on colorful towels on the sidewalk directly in my path. It took a moment, but I figured out that they were lifting small hand weights and counting outside. This choice was no doubt spurred by the hotter than usual spring day.

I stepped off the sidewalk to accommodate their workout and said hello to them as I started to pass by. The one on the right, a woman with beautifully clear very dark skin, asked, "Aren't you usually walking with a man?" After being momentarily stunned by her intimate knowledge of my habits despite not knowing me, I smiled and told her that I usually walked with my husband, but he was at work at that time.

I asked her if she lived around there and she pointed back at a tidy, smallish yellow house behind her. I started to ask her if she owned one of the many friendly cats in the area, but halted myself when I noticed a beautiful grey and white cat sitting several feet behind her next to a tree. She told me that was her cat and it was named "Shadow."

Shadow was not one of my usual feline acquaintances on this residential walking tour, so I asked if she was friendly. Her owner said that she was bothering she and her friend earlier, but she had exiled her to the spot next to the tree. I wished she and her companion luck with her workout, and as I went on my way, she said, "You're doing good," in reference to my constitutional. I replied that I was not doing as well as she and her friend, who looked fitter than me by far.