Not Quite Fiction
It was her first chance at escape and it was long due. The week before, she had been overwhelmed by 150 women and girls; the weekend brought what was easily the most frustrating family reunion to visit the camp yet. After a week where she essentially worked one full extra day, it was time to get out.
Her original plans for a long hike weren't sounding sufficiently restful anymore. Knowing what was ahead that week, her plans changed -- and so it was that she found herself back on a familiar lake, drifting slowly as she read about Australia and daydreamed.
For a Monday morning, there were a surprisingly large number of people out and about. Aside from a handful of tourists -- families on vacation, some friendly but lost bikers from Illinois -- the lake was buzzing with locals and their boats. People seemed insistent on enjoying their last few weeks of guaranteed warm weather, which was somehow understandable.
A need for air conditioning and food eventually propelled her from the lake. Sweaty, sunburned, and more than a little preoccupied, she stopped for a quick snack at a bakery before heading downtown to sit for quite a bit longer. Here, she was one of many again, this time feeling much more anonymous as she settled in to get some work done.
She was there to renew her job search, but her mind wandered to the weather, to the friends who had recently announced that they were expecting, to her sister's current travels and her intended trip to visit said sister. Anything but the task at hand, really -- it was unfortunate but not surprising. She was tired of the search and she had barely re-started.
With only a month left in her current spot, though, it was probably time to get to it.
Her original plans for a long hike weren't sounding sufficiently restful anymore. Knowing what was ahead that week, her plans changed -- and so it was that she found herself back on a familiar lake, drifting slowly as she read about Australia and daydreamed.
For a Monday morning, there were a surprisingly large number of people out and about. Aside from a handful of tourists -- families on vacation, some friendly but lost bikers from Illinois -- the lake was buzzing with locals and their boats. People seemed insistent on enjoying their last few weeks of guaranteed warm weather, which was somehow understandable.
A need for air conditioning and food eventually propelled her from the lake. Sweaty, sunburned, and more than a little preoccupied, she stopped for a quick snack at a bakery before heading downtown to sit for quite a bit longer. Here, she was one of many again, this time feeling much more anonymous as she settled in to get some work done.
She was there to renew her job search, but her mind wandered to the weather, to the friends who had recently announced that they were expecting, to her sister's current travels and her intended trip to visit said sister. Anything but the task at hand, really -- it was unfortunate but not surprising. She was tired of the search and she had barely re-started.
With only a month left in her current spot, though, it was probably time to get to it.
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