DAY TWENTY 

Dang, the lady staying just down the hill from me last night was totally flooded out. This morning she was on the verge of tears. She had driven here from PA for some type of religious retreat that wasn’t going well either. She kept pushing her stingy blonde hair behind her glasses and saying half her things were ruined. I could only promise her that things would turn around soon. I pedaled off as she carried another load of clothes down to the laundry. 

The road was cool and dry after the previous rain and I rarely stopped but for apples and bananas. The wheels of Fanchon sang a soft melody against the rhythm of these county routes and the miles stacked up quickly.

I pulled into a park in Altamont. There were multiple shelters and a couple different children’s parties ongoing. Kids with cake icing smeared on their grubby little hands and faces ran by arguing with each other about arguing. They gawked at my tent spread out in the sun. I smiled and waved and secretly wished they would offer me cake.

One time in Mt Vernon, Ohio I ducked into a shelter to wait out a passing storm. There was a small family celebrating their son’s birthday with pizza and cake and ice cream. As soon as it started raining they understood what I was doing and immediately invited me to join them. I had a great time hanging with them and wishing the kid a happy birthday. The grandma had rode her bicycle around some island in her youth and was really reliving the experience as she spoke with me. Treasure. The sparkle in her eyes was shining so bright.

As I rolled out of this park a sherif was rolling in. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was to make certain I wasn’t trying to camp. I admit I am getting a touch feral out here and my own wild eyes can scare the normies sipping their diet cokes and pretending nothing ever changed except high school was over.

I hung around my stealth camp a bit too early and had a few walkers stumble across me. One told me the cops are total assholes here, his words - not mine, so I found a deep bridge to tuck under and missed any stars or UAPs that might have been twinkling in the still of the night.