The following was written on May 12, 2009. A rescued story from my discarded blog.
The service ended. Jared slid quietly out of his seat and made his way down the aisle, avoiding the ushers who looked ready to extend friendliness to him. He stepped out of the church and into the fresh air. The sky was overcast, with grey clouds threatening to dissolve into torrents of rain at any moment. The breeze carried with it the scent of wet leaves and puddles.
Jared felt melancholy. At least, he felt the urge to be. Shaking off the thoughts of church that bickered with each other in the space of his head, he took off in a slow jog in the direction of the park. The pavement crunched beneath his feet.
Strange how the sound of his shoes hitting the gravel only served to accentuate the very silence of the afternoon. Far-off sounds of car engines starting and people chatting in the distance made Jared feel like he was in a cone of silence. It made him feel lonely.
There was only one family at the park that day. He had seen them there before. There was the small girl who reminded him of Megan. Today she was busy playing with a young Golden Retriever. Her parents sat on a bench a space away, offering encouragement: “Throw the stick a bit further! Oh wow, well done!” The small girl -she must have only been about six- laughed and clapped her hands, and kissed and hugged the small dog.
That that sort of family still existed…it was a surprise. Just wait till she’s 15, thought Jared. Then he felt ashamed for his cynicism, as if he had just wished a broken family unto the little girl. Then he thought, well, that’s life. The people that should have loved you best loved you the worst, they just forgot they had to or went about it the wrong way or they just gave up on you and left.
A drop of water fell onto the back of his hand. Soon the rain was falling heavily. The family ran to a black CV nearby. Jared got up and slowly walked home.
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