1. I woke up at 7 a.m. to the sound of thunder shaking my house and cats squabbling about as rain pulled a dick move and imposed itself on my sunrise. rain, that bastard! This wouldn't be so strange except i wanted it to be a beautiful day due to the recent spring weather trend that was going on. But alas, the weather/streetlight god of the midwest frowns upon me.

2. I woke up yet again at about 8:45ish a.m. to the sound of my mother calling a middle school principal a cocksucker and other various insults. funny? yes. kinda strange? not for my house, but thats not the point! Apparently my brother was lighting fires in school and well... you know how the administration tends to discourage that type of behavior.

3. I get to school and all is well until my break between classes for two hours. This is important because this presents me with a lot of free time. What ended up happening: puppies. Puppies happened.

4. Did some stuff... sat around campus sending my brain waves to all passers by in a loosing effort to deter drum circles. A girl can hope can't she?

5. A blind man appears as i sit and asks where a building is. We're sitting in the grass. We direct him forward onto the grass. of course he said something to the effect of, "oh shit grass" and i realized that i would have never even thought of that being any kind of problem. We were playing a fucked up version of hot and cold with the guy, trying to direct him to the right door way. Several times i thought he was going to run into various light poles. I was worried. Then a nice girl, a name i can't remember, stood up, ran over, took his hand, and guided him to the doorway and led him inside. I was proud of her good deed and felt like a total asshole for not doing the same/not thinking about it or having any sort of idea about how the whole feeling your way around campus alone thing would work. I felt so shitty about the whole experience. It's now continuing to bug me.

6. I get home. It rains some more, i nap, and eat. I am a bear. I require hibernation. I need to go to the gym... maybe eventually?

7. Did i mention  there were fucking PUPPIES?

The streets were lined with freshly bloomed flowers, buttercups and posies sprinkled the walkways of the front yards. Trees lined the sidewalks like telephone poles, their branches reaching out and communicating with the neighborhood despite being the only natural thing in the plain suburbs of Winchester.

Marla walked the uniform pathways slowly passing by each house which happened to resemble the last house she had just passed. And so she walked, making her way past unfamiliar homes that were familiar without seeing them before. Strapped onto her back was a hiking pack emblazoned with a black logo that clashed with the deep red it was made from. In it she carried all she needed for her journey. All of the necessary accoutrements were packed and accounted for including a sleeping bag nestled on top and a water bottle dangling from one of the many loops on the pack. With purpose Marla trekked across this vast wilderness of concrete and plastic, never stopping for more than a few minutes to check her headings and to secure any loose items.

Onwards she went as the day slipped by. Before dusk she encountered a man sitting on his lawn under a great oak tree with a torn t-shirt covering his head and a bucket beside him.

"Why, good afternoon to ya!" ,said the man, "where are ya headin' this time o' day with all that crap on yur back?"

"I'm on a quest", she replied with quiet dignity.

"Whatchya lookin' for?"

"I'll know when I find it"

With that she continued on. Walking with purpose, not noticing whatever task the man went back to after the chit-chat; Marla made her way east. She rounded a corner at the end of the subdivision and pressed the button on the trafficlight signaling that she was there and ready to cross the great divide created by the river of asphalt which separated the homes from other homes. While waiting for the light to change, an elderly woman made her way across the great divide, reaching out with her white cane and groping the air to find the button.

"Do you need any help?", asked Marla as the lady fondled the trafficlight searching for the button to cross.

"Oh why no, I'm just trying to get home. I work at the gas station over there and it's about time to be headin' that way. I can't miss my meds. I'll start shittin' everywhere and it's quite unpleasant. Maybe my son will be home and he can help me find my cat. He's been missing for two days ya know", said the woman matter of factually.

"I see. Can you make it across the street ok?"

"I've been doing this before you were born missy. I've got the timin' down to an art. Every twelve seconds the light changes and I can feel 'em racin' by when it do. It's all a matter of instinct ya understand?"

"Ya I guess I do. Ya know I don't think I'm much younger than you. In fact I maybe older. How do you get by?"

"Well, I lost my eyes about six years ago. It didn't bother me much, but you sound much more vigorous than an old hag like me. Then again how do I know, right? It's all about instincts. Where are you off to anyway?"

"I'm on a quest"

"What are you searching for?"

"I'll know it when I see it."

"Ya I hear that!", the lady said with peals of laughter echoing across the black tundra and into the emptiness of the sky above the street signs and phonelines.

And so, Marla pushed on. Wether she ever found what she was looking for is up to debate but she has not been heard from since that day. She was last seen making her way east towards the grey city, carefully searching for something. Did she ever find it? Only she would know. But then again, it was always about instincts.