I left work early today. I don’t often do things like that, mostly because I have a boss who doesn’t let me, but also because I start to finally get productive right around 3 pm and so need to harness that energy. Today, however, my boss was out of the office, I wasn’t getting anything useful done and the weather was beautiful. So I took the opportunity to sneak out an hour early. Walking down Market Street, my mind was fairly empty, except for thoughts of what to have for dinner. I wasn’t really paying attention to my surroundings, but in the distance I saw a familiar person (what it with me and running into people on Market Street?).

It was my friend Shay, who I’ve been trying to make plans with for weeks. We used to work together (although we were friends even before that), and would see each other every day. It’s been strange to lead a life so devoid of her presence for the last nine months. But there she was, thrown perfectly into my path. We hugged tightly and stood in the middle of the sidewalk for a good fifteen minutes, talking, laughing and giving each other much needed reality checks. It was like no time had passed at all since we had last been together.

She needed to get to class, so we parted ways, each continuing in the direction from which the other had come. I giggled to myself the entire way home, feeling happy and grateful for the encounter.