A Bicycle, a Beginning, and a Quiet Kindness

... two people repeating “Wi‑Fi” at each other like confused parrots.

Swans

She had probably seen me before, without me ever noticing her.

I often thought of Jeanette Winterson's novel Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit — except for me, they were.

... but why buy a watch that says POLICE?”

I heard the rain first — soft taps against the bedroom window...

Sometimes a memory returns the way snowfall does — quietly, without urgency, settling only where it’s welcome.

A remarkable journey, unhurried, moving at a speed allowed by the weather conditions outside.

I heard myself ask, quietly, “Is that the radio station?”

and eventually saying, as gently as I could — “It’s basically a baguette with a topping.”

... while I was running around in a Blondie T-shirt, buying overpriced captain's caps, and dining on street sausage.