Jane’s feet squished in the wet gravel. She was glad to be out and moving after two days of rain. Her bones had been creaking. Out of habit, she stayed to the right and walked to the beat of the music on her phone. A figure, a woman, approached in the middle of the path. She gave it little thought. People didn’t move until the last minute. But the distance closed and still no adjustment. A game of chicken, thought Jane. She looked at her new sneakers and the soggy ground to the right of the path. Who would win?
Thank you for reading.
Haha, Barbara, good job writing this piece. I’ve heard of people from certain wouldn’t give a slight chance to lose.
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Thanks Miriam! 🙂
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LOL! I had this happen to me once while walking to my office building, early one morning. It was dark. The woman came straight toward me. I moved, then she moved back in my path. When I saw her glazed eyes, I knew she was either drunk or on drugs. She never said a word, but our shoulders brushed.
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I ended up moving onto the grass at the last second – she kept on hogging the walking path!
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Hahaha. Good one, Barbara. This is when kickboxing comes in handy.
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Haha that’s true – I’ll have to brush up on those skills 😉
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😁
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This is brilliant! X
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Oh thank you, Books and Bakes! Happens a lot on our walking trail 🙂
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Oh no, I feel for Jane and her new sneakers! 😀 If it is anything like the ‘game’ of chicken this past year, she’ll be jumping into the soggy ground! I’ve been forced to do that on many occasions!
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Hi Annika, so have I! One time I was walking to the right, far over and another person came at me, walking to her left, right on the edge of the pathway. So we were directly in front of each other. She had all the room of the path to move over, but I had to go onto the grass. Thanks for reading! Hope you are doing well. I saw you have a post with a picture of marbles. I’m heading over there now. (I have a marble collection!)
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🙂
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I’m always surprised by the number of people who don’t move aside. Sometimes I think I must be invisible. I wonder who won.
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I know what you mean, Norah. I think people are in their own worlds when they’re out walking. Happens to me a lot!
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So it’s not just me, then. I thought invisibility might be my super power. 😂
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Haha – mine too! If someone is open to saying hello on our neighborhood path, I say hi, but I totally respect the walkers who are deep in thought. Aren’t we all these days? Just as long as we make room for each other!
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Exactly. It’s nice to say hello. Even a smile can brighten someone’s day.
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I often find that when I say hello to a face that seems unapproachable, I get a happy result!
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And so the ripples spread. 🙂
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That’s true 🙂
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I get very offended by this sort of inconsideration and selfishness, Barbara. I hope your character wins.
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Ah yes – I think what it is is that people are in their own worlds when they are on walks. I don’t know, I can be super into whatever I’m listening to, but still I watch for people coming at me. I almost always move onto the grass for others. But sometimes both of us move over – and that’s nice.
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Haha, this is great, Barbara, and I guess we’ll never know who won! 🙂
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Haha – thanks, Lauren! I appreciate you reading this. Trying to get some writing out there – like you 🙂
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Flash fiction is also new to me as far as trying it is concerned, so I love reading it, and this is great!
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Oh thank you 🙂
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The last 100-word piece I wrote was a bio for a contest I entered.
It’s hard to compress thoughts into so few words. Brava, Barbara!
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Oh thanks, Marian. I wrote it quickly and already see things I’d like to change, but I’m doing it as an exercise. I’ve never entered a contest, but I entered my father’s fiction in a bunch. He was a big believer in contests. Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
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Urgh. Walking is usually soothing for me (and I guess you also). Walking is meditative and peaceful and WAIT – a game of chicken? Really??? So well written, Barbara. You got my blood pressure up. I want Jane to “stand her ground” and not move, but if she’s like me, she ends up getting soggy muddy shoes. ;-0
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Hi Pam, thanks for reading! You might guess that Jane’s sneakers got a little wet 😉
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