A WALK

At first, Edith wasn't sure if she was simply having a bad dream, or if the scream she heard was what had woken her up in the first place. dream or scream? God, she hoped it was just a nightmare. She didn't have her hearing aids on, so it must have been a dream, right? reaching for her glasses, Edith slid them on and looked out the large window that made up almost the entire wall of her bedroom. Initial scans showed no signs of life, and the more she looked the less Edith found. the same old ocean, the Same Old Lighthouse slowly whirling on Quadra Island, the same lack of cars and people. It had definitely been a dream. Thank God. dismissing the entire incident as an old lady's active imagination, Edith waddled to the washroom and back to bed. As she fell asleep the words dream, scream, dream, scream, danced through her head like a child's nursery rhyme.

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Working the night shift for as long as she had, Jessie knew just how much hell it could run on your body's internal clock. Just as you adjusted to The Nightlife, your days off would roll around to throw you out of whack. Just as the sun has always chased the Moon, Jessie has always chased sleep. So when she woke up to a clock face reading 1:47, she had no way of knowing if it was almost 2 P.M. or 2 A.M. 

A quick glance at the black slate window above her bed answered that question, and before she had even stood up Jessie already felt Restless. As if she had been asleep for a few years instead of a few days, and felt like every muscle in her body needed to be stretched as soon as possible. Jessie has always been what her father called an active sleeper, and what her sister more simply called a kicker. unless she had been awake for 25 hours instead of just 14. on those nights she slept like a corpse. Last night was definitely one of those nights. As she got to her feet, Jessie listened to the familiar cracks and pops from her tired joints nervously. Even with such a small amount of noise, there was always the fear of waking someone up. 

Not because she was living with some ogre family of assholes who would give her hell, simply because Jessie loved her grandparents and didn't want to disturb anyone.

Clad and PJ pants and a Dick's Fish and Chips t-shirt, Jessies crept out into the hallway and tip toed towards the bathroom. Jessie cringed when the bathroom door creaked open, cringed at the loud slosh of the toilet flushing, and finally cringed as she closed the door to her bedroom again on her way back. every step she took, every sound she made, she was painfully nervous. Her mission accomplished, Jessie listened carefully to make sure nobody had heard. 

From the small seaside condo, Jessie heard only the low buzz of machinery. She sighed with relief. Now for the fun part. The heaviest and loudest door of all, waited patiently for Jessie's arrival. Before she left however, Jessie loaded the small glass bowl of her bong carefully. A good bowl, is exactly what she needed to start her day off right.

Sneaking out the front door slowly, Jessies crept her way out onto the balcony with her old pal Barney the big purple bong. A few tokes later, she wondered what to do with her free evening. All of her friends and family were Sleeping, all the stores were closed, and if she were to stay home she wouldn't want to leave her bedroom any more than she had to. SHe could go for a walk of course, but the only thing to do out there was smoke weed and throw rocks. So in summation, the options are movie/video games at home, or Brave the Wilderness and take a walk down by the ocean. the stoned parts of her, the smoke now warmly nestled into her bones, advised Jessie not to leave the small poster-covered box she woke up in again. but those same lazy bones demanded to be stretched, and the idea of a late-night walk quickly won out as her best option. Jessie put on some real pants, an old bleach-dyed hoodie, and packed a bowl of her small glass pipe carefully before leaving. The bong would have been even better, but the silicone behemoth wasn't exactly portable. However you smoked it, In Jessie's experience there were few Finer Things than smoking and watching the heavy blue-black waves endlessly lap at the shore. The answer to Jessie's problems seemed obvious. She was going to take a walk.

Sneaking out the heavy front door for the last time, Jessie made her way down the condo's long beige hallway. As soon as she was outside, Jessie could feel the cold wet air working through her whole body like an internal air freshener. The balcony had been nice, but this was even better. As far as Jessie was concerned, this was Heaven itself.

standing outside her own front door, Jessie had two options. if she went left, she would have to tackle the hill. The only reason anyone would want to walk up such a steep hill was to get downtown, which officially began at the hill’s opposite side. but if it was the sea walk you wanted, a right turn would lead you to a walking path that would take you straight out of town if you were so inclined. or straight to the liquor store and back if you weren't. Her little walks usually didn't last more than an hour, and Jessie decided quickly that she would turn around at the liquor store if she didn't tire out before then. with a deep breath, Jessie started her walk. 

during a big storm, the same ocean that sat unthreatening in front of her window for years, could throw entire trees onto the highway. Tonight, the waves rushed the shore with a calm soothing rhythm. As she walked, Jessie started to get lost in the hypnotic Dance of the ocean's waves, the heavy softness of the low crash. 

Soon enough, Jessie was breathing in time with the waves, and her feet seemed to carry her entirely on their own. Jessie walked past the large stone monument labeled 49th parallel, and a few 60-plus condos and buzzing bright hotels. by the time she was 20 minutes or so into the walk, Jessie felt like she was floating. she was in the zone. This was her own form of meditation, and she loved how she could get so lost in it. This was the best choice she had ever made. This was the best feeling Jessie had ever felt.  The only thing that could make this any better, would be if she was able to make her way closer to the water, past the largest and sharpest rocks that were closest to the shore. over the logs, over the green and brown stinking line of plant life that marked the tide, and finally over the mostly smooth and slippery rocks that were closest to the water.

sure it sounds like a laundry list of obstacles, but she had been doing it for

her whole life. she had done it stoned and hung over, and fallen on her ass at least once or twice in the process. With 21 years of beach navigating experience under her belt, Jessie wasn't worried in the slightest. the way she was feeling right now, she could start to believe she was Immortal. taking her first step down onto the rocks, she tested a nearby log with one foot. when she put her weight on it, it wobbled slightly from side to side. a bad sign? Maybe, but not always. She gave the log a little more weight, and the nervous Shake was fully anchored. Not just a pretty face, Jessie chuckled to herself. She had seen logs like this before, and felt good about her first stepping stone. your brain has a funny way of telling you what's safe to stand on and what's a risk, and pretty quickly she had a three-stepping stone plan for getting over the rocks. First the log, then a large boulder a foot or so away, and from there it would be a simple matter of hopping onto the smooth ocean-polished gravel. 

Log, Rock, Sand, Jessie said aloud. She felt almost as if she was suddenly casting some curse. Log, rock, sand. like the steps of a waltz. This would be Child's Play. For Jessie, it felt good to leave her anxiety behind and jump. At first, everything went perfectly. The log held Jessie's weight just as she knew it would, but as soon as she hit the rock she knew it had never really been a rock at all. The hollow metallic crunch mixed with the sound of breaking glass, letting her know before she even hit the ground that her rock was actually a big bag full of empty cans and beer bottles. Jessie was helpless to stop it.As she fell, Jessie had time to feel the shards of glass work their way through the soft Rubber Sole of her Crocs and into her feet. She had time to hear the sound of her own leg breaking, and to feel the heavy gunshot crack under her tensed flesh. First the foot and now her leg exploded into white hot agony. Before the next blow could come, Jessie felt her jaw snap shut with unbearable force. Already full of so much pain, Jessie barely noticed when she landed amongst the rocks. 

breaking on them instead of bouncing. Whimpering in confusion, Jessie now looked like a woman who had fallen from the sky. Still listening to the crashing waves, She blacked out. 10 minutes later, Jessie woke up. she squinted through the darkness and finally, looking horrified by the twisted shape of her own leg. She was losing blood. 

She could feel all the life and warmth inside being swallowed by the polished. Finally, she would scream