Random Thoughts #2

I’m just gonna write these when I feel like it I guess.

I used to have this neighbor who would do the craziest things, and I would just follow along with him because of my inability to say no. Also because he interested me to the highest degree. I talk about him like he moved away or died, but no. He still lives near me, I just haven’t associated with him in years, and therefore he is as well as gone. A lack of interaction is the same as physical distance. 

One day after school, he decided that that particular day was the time to climb down A large slope behind a cul-de-sac in our neighborhood. Not remembering that it had rained the day before, we scaled the fairly steep rocky hill and climbed out way to the bottom. The hill was covered in what I would’ve described as boulders then, they might seem smaller to me now, but the sharpness and large size of the rocks made it quite difficult and dangerous to climb. It took nearly 15 minutes to reach the bottom, at which we found an embarrassingly small stream that slowly widened as it flowed into the forest. My neighbor shouted for me to go first. I refused. I did the same. He refused. So we both jumped at the same time across what looked to be a very thin stream to get to the other bank. 

Dirt can absorb a lot of water, and still retain its basic shape before collapsing as soon as weight is put on it. I, of course, did not know this, and apparently neither did my neighbor, as we sank to our thighs in cold, uncomfortable mud. Obviously, both of us freaked out, each of us for completely different reasons. My neighbor was worried about his shoes, which were apparently only a week old, and were now quite ruined. I was worried about my parents, who would come home in around 10 minutes to find a very muddy child. Both kids having been thoroughly intimidated by the imminent scold-filled future, and somewhat regretting the choices made, we thought about how to get out of the ravine we were in. I pointed out the grassy side to the hill we had descended on, and after boosting each other over a few fallen trees, we had made it back onto the cul-de-sac. Not bothering with the formality of saying goodbye, or shouting curses at the person I regarded as the one at fault for the situation, I sprinted into my house. Removing my shoes, I plunged them into a filled sink, and sat down nearby. 

And I’ll end this recounting with a quick note about shoes. I make it a point to get cheap shoes from sketchers almost exclusively, and would like to point out all of the positives associated with this choice. I like to refer to them as “disposable shoes” since, if they get muddy, I really don’t care about what happens to them afterwards. Shoes exist to get me from place to place while sparing me the excruciating pain of walking barefoot on a rocky trail. If they look ok to wear in public, and also happen to be cheap, then consider me a customer. 

Also there’s this stray cat outside my window that’s been staring at me for an uncomfortable amount of time while I’ve been writing this, so I’m gonna go, bye.