3/18/24
2:16 am
Day 5 writing prompt was a story I enjoyed writing. I like reading stories where I can visualize the scenes. Hopefully, you the reader, can see it too.
Day 5 – American Graffiti
Synopsis: You discover graffiti downtown in an unlikely place, unlike you’ve seen before about someone you know.
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It was starting to clear up during her walk. Sally had been walking most of the morning when it first started lightly sprinkling. The warmth of the sun could be felt on her back as she walked through the park heading for the riverfront.
Her walks were getting longer and longer with the distance starting to increase each week. She was beginning training for an eventual marathon at the end of the year. Her pace was steady as she kept time with the music playing on her mobile phone. She was deep in thought.
Earlier in that week the group leader of her walking group had suddenly cancelled all their scheduled meeting times for the rest of the month and no one seemed to know why. So the group was starting to fall apart and each was on their own.
No one else was willing to take the lead. Sally had too much already to do at work with a group project and had not time to take on a leading role but she felt comfortable taking off on her own. The group leader had already posted online the different routes they were going to take for the next 6 months anyway so all she had to do was follow the plan already set in place.
The rest of her fellow walkers were upset and angry that the group leader just seemed to drop them all together without any explanation but Sally was more concerned that no one had heard from him since that brief text message. It was like he just disappeared off the planet.
She had met the group leader actually at work. He was an accountant in another department and was putting up a signup sheet in the break room that morning when she met him. They started talking and she was his first sign-up.
Frankie was fairly new to the company and so was Sally. In his spare time when he wasn’t crunching numbers at work, he was working on becoming a certified personal fitness trainer with the hopes of one day opening a fitness studio.
Since he was new and trying to build up a client base he had decided to get a group together and tackle a fitness goal of completing a half marathon. It was going to be a good test of his ability to motivate and get others moving.
They were already into week six of the plan when he had sent the text message. Sally was sure that she would see him at work the following Monday but she never did. She assumed that maybe a work project was interfering with his plans.
At the end of the week after not seeing him at all she went to his department to see if she could find out what happened and make sure he was okay. She got to his cubicle and it was empty.
Alarmed she asked one of his co-workers where he went. The co-worker told her that he had just shown up that morning, packed up his desk handed an extended leave of absence form to their supervisor then left. No one knew or even suspected that anything was wrong.
The generic form letter was a request with no real indication of why he decided to leave. Sally found out no one had heard from him since that day. She asked if anyone had been able to contact him.
The co-worker said that had received a call from his mother saying that he was tending to some personal issues and wanted her to pick up his last paycheck for him. She had assured them that he was okay and wanted to apologize for his abrupt departure.
Sally was thinking about how strange the whole scenario had been when she hit the longest part of her walk according to her online map. It was on the riverfront and would wind along the walking path for the next 3 miles.
The sun was fully out now, and a slight breeze was picking up off the water making the walk comfortable. She didn’t see too many people out yet but knew the riverfront would start getting busier as the day moved on. She wanted to finish up the route before then.
She moved past the small intersection of the kiosks that would soon open up and come to life with all sorts of wares to be sold from hand-crafted jewelry, and paintings to souvenir t-shirts. She passed the small fountains that would also soon spring to life and saw the landscapers busy planting more flowers and tidying up.
She then came to the wall that would make up most of the remaining route. She saw the parks and recreation workers staring at the wall, shaking their heads and nodding in agreement a couple of workers were rubbing their fingers on the wall. She was curious about what they were looking at and as she rounded the corner that’s when she saw it.
The first drawing was that of children playing on swings in front of what looked like a schoolhouse and the words “When we were little…” It was kind of curious and odd, not what one would expect from graffiti artists or taggers as they are known. Sally stopped, peered closer at the drawing, and realized that it was not paint but a chalk drawing. The parks and recreation workers were already beginning to power wash it off when she continued.
As she moved on there were even more drawings. Scenes of kids playing, running, flying kites, riding horses, people playing baseball and it went on and on. The next scene was that of a beach with waves, sand, more sun, and two people walking along holding hands this time it said “…as time went on and we grew…our friendship turned into more…” This intrigued and piqued Sally’s interest even more.
She continued and she realized the two characters in the scenes were getting older as it progressed. It was a story about love being played out for the whole world to see. Someone was serious about this relationship and it showed in the drawing how much they cared.
The next scene she came upon was of the two people who appeared to be at a graduation of some sort with caps, gowns, tassels, and diplomas this time the story was taking a different turn it said “…as with time things change and we moved in different directions…” Sally stopped and contemplated what it said and felt kind of sad.
These two people had been childhood sweethearts and eventually moved apart. “What happened then?” Sally thought to herself. She realized that the rest of the story was still unfolding and could see that there were even more drawings along the path. Sally started picking up the pace when she realized the parks and recreation crew was starting to catch up with her.
She passed more scenes of the two people now on different paths assuming they had gone off to two different schools by the team mascots and colors. The scenes continues showing the guy had pursued what looked like math subjects and the girl had pursued art and music. She wondered if the girl was behind the graffiti art.
The next scene was that of a big city and it showed the two people appearing to be drinking coffee together and it said “…even though we were apart for so long, I never forgot you and was so happy to run into you that day…” Sally stopped and this made her smile.
She continued. The next scenes showed two people dancing, going to the movies, eating dinner together, walking along, and holding hands. These different scenes made up most of the route and Sally was going down to the last half mile.
Then a scene showed the guy walking with a bunch of people which didn’t make any sense to the rest of the previous depictions. It said, “… this was the only way I could get your attention Frankie, I can’t wait for you to finish your projects, and I’ve waited too long already…” This made Sally stop in her tracks. Frankie she thought. That was a weird coincidence that their team leader was named Frankie.
Sally continued to pick up the pace. She knew that this had to be about Frankie, who else would be walking this path? He was the one who made up the routes and posted them online for the group to follow.
She saw more scenes but this time they were of the two people arguing and it appeared the girl was leaving, the words said: “…I’m not waiting for you anymore, I love you and always will but I want my life to start now, not a year from now, so either run away with me today or let me go…”
Sally rounded the last bend and saw the last scene.
It was a picture of two people holding hands, getting married by the ocean, and scrawled hastily across the bottom were the words “… I love you too, F”.
Sally stopped and started laughing. Frank wasn’t in some sort of trouble or distress he had been in love with a girl and ran away with her to get married. This explained the quick departure with no notice to anyone. Sally was sure that once he got back from wherever they went to, he would once again take on the group, and lead them once more.
Sally stood at the end of the route looking out over the river wondering whether Frankie and his girl were happy now that they were finally starting a life together.
The walking path was starting to get busier and the sun was fully out now with not a cloud in sight. The parks and recreation crew were washing the last of the scenes off the wall and Sally knew she was the only one to know what happened. It made her smile; it was turning out to be a beautiful day.
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Thank you for stopping by.
Have a wonderful day!
Peace, love, happiness, and good vibes, always!
Suzanne
love to bake 