Ten-Finger Exercises

Found!

Got lost today on the way to a new patient who lives out in the hinterlands. Hogeye Road is just one of the colorful names I found myself crossing. I had directions down to the tenth of the mile, but they didn't match my odometer after the second turn. So the next twenty miles, where I couldn't find any road signs or names, I was in doubt about where I was really headed. Fortunately I didn't follow my normal pattern and go back, making sure I had done it right, insteadof going on. (THat's my normal pattern figuratively. I doubt myself and backpeddle, then run in circles till I figure out I was okay in the first place.)

Made it to the town I was hunting, then couldn't find the address. It was an even number, and the only possible houses(?) on that side of the street were 1) places I didn't want to go into, and 2) not the right numbers. I asked a boy walking down the street, who said, "You mean Mamie and Dick's place? That's where I'm going." I had been in the right block, but there were even numbers on both sides of the street. ???

Going home, I missed a turnoff somewhere. On the way there I'd noticed that two of the roads showed no names, and all of the hills covered with wheat fields looked the same. So when I came out on a road that looked better than I remembered, and I finally had cell phone coverage once again, I drove to the first road sign I found and called Bill. He found me on Google Maps and sent me the right direction.

Got home in time to write a little more on my story, and now I know why I prefer flash fiction: there are no scenes to change or time lapses. I think I've overwritten my story trying to get through the first activity and on to the next, which I haven't figured out yet. It's a learning experience, right?