An Unfamiliar Street

The sound of my boots on the sidewalk is unchanging. Click and a clack. Over and over until it seems my heart beats in time with each slap on the concrete. But the things around me are nowhere near as constant, as dependable as a beating heart and clicking boots. My path is new.

You see, the streets I used to know knew me too well. They knew how many clicks and clacks carried me from one intersection the the other. Walking down, I passed neighbors with their dogs--able to name them all. I passed trees that had already told me their stories. I watched some get ripped apart by wind and down by large yellow cranes. Friends rooted aside those familiar streets.

This is what I have been looking for. This is what I needed. Something unfamiliar. Something exciting. Someone told me to chase the horizon until it becomes something new. Something new.

The sun sinks in the sky. In my mind, I know it's the same one from home--we all come from the same sun. But that doesn't mean it looks anything like the one I left behind. This sun sinks not with the dependability of night but, rather, with the promise of a new morning. The sinking sun paints the path with a golden light.

Looking up at the sky, I don't notice him until he has already passed me. I turn my head back to watch him as he shrinks, moving further away. A bearded face and jacket to deflect the wind. His face, now hidden from view, was one I had never seen before. The first of many new faces.

The trees I see are only acquaintances. I look up at their branches and reassure them I will know their stories with time.

Here I walk with feet unrooted. I don't know exactly where to turn or how many stoplights lie in my path. But they won't really stop me--not for long, anyways. My feet carry me, with their constant patter, while walking down an unfamiliar street.