Out For A Ride
As I sit on the balcony, the cars are racing by on the roadway. There are puffy white clouds spread against the blue sky. The clouds likely formed over the ocean. How far have they traveled? They made their way across the ocean and now they’re floating endlessly along the river.
The sun is still out. It’s 6:45 p.m. Although the sun will be setting soon, it still feels like ninety degrees. I’m in the shade but it’s hotter than I thought it would be. Usually, it cools down, but not tonight.
The mother and son from last night just came by. Tonight, he is riding his bicycle while his mother jogs. He’s wearing a blue shirt with pictures, blue shorts, and red sneakers. His bike jumps out at you. It is fluorescent green. You can’t miss it. That’s a good thing to have around as you’ll see. He’s about five years old and has short blonde hair. His mother is wearing a dark blue tank top, teal shorts, and dark running shoes with white specs. She has brown hair with blonde streaks.
As they passed over the speed bump, she dropped something. I heard the boy say, “you scared me.” She said, “I’m sorry.” The boy was ahead of his mother. I could see the sweat rolling down her face as she passed.
Tragedy averted
The previous night there was almost a tragedy. They were both riding their bikes. The boy was riding down the opposite lane of his mother. She was on the right hand side with the flow of traffic. He was peddling down the other side, which means he was going right into any traffic that might be coming. The speed limit in here is 10 mph. Since the Apartments were built (another story coming later), the occupants of the apartments break the speed barrier with their driving. A car barreled across the speed bump closest to my condo building at 40 mph. Right around the corner, where you can’t see, was the boy right in the middle of the lane. It’s a blind corner. All of the sudden the mother saw the car and yelled to her son, “Get over here. Get over here.” Luckily the driver of the car saw him and slowed down in time. They didn’t stop though. It was another close call. I’ve seen many of them.
A couple of months ago, the boy and his father were riding their bikes together. As they were riding their bikes down the street, they encountered one of the many speed bumps. The boy hit the speed bump and once he started peddling again, he lost control. I heard him scream and looked up just in time to see his face hit the pavement. You can imagine what happened next. He started screaming and crying. I felt so sorry for him. His father dismounted his bike and ran for him. He tried to settle him down. The father took him back to their condo. He left the bikes off to the side and came back later to retrieve them.
One more time
Mother and son have returned one more time. This time, the mother has stopped jogging and is pushing the boy’s bike. He’s walking behind her. It looks like they got tired and are walking it off.
Time to leave
It’s actually starting to feel hot out here again. It’s almost time for me to go back in. The clouds I mentioned are gone.
Until next time, happy reading.
If you have any comments, feel free to leave them.
-Matt