A Walk in the Park WC 285

A Walk in the Park
WC 285

The sun rose on a beautiful summer day: seventy-four degrees with a gentle perfumed breeze. A perfect day.

Myrna and Sophie were enjoying the morning, strolling through Central Park.

“Perfect day for your first day out and about, Myrna.”

“Nice idea, Sophie. Thank you.”

Myrna kept looking back.

“What’s up, girlfriend?”

“Someone is following me. Us.”

Sophie looked back. “Nobody’s following us.”

“There is. I think it’s Albert!”

Albert was the stalker that caused Myrna to go bonkers and end up in the mental hospital.

Myrna picked up the pace.

“Slow down, Myrna. My legs are shorter than yours.”

The two women, exact opposites, had been friends since grade school, forty years earlier. Against all reason, they had clicked. Myrna was tall and gangly to Sophie’s short and stocky. Myrna had grown up in luxury, Sophie’s family had scraped by. Myrna was secretive, and introverted; Sophie was outgoing and open.

Myrna stopped abruptly and turned around. “Why are you following me?”

“Myrna, there is no one there.”

Sophie began to wonder if this was such a good idea, letting Myrna out of River’s Edge so soon. The doctors said she had responded to treatment and was cleared to go home. But now, Sophie was having second thoughts.

“Let’s head back home; I’m hungry. Don’t blueberry pancakes sound good for your first non-hospital food?”

“I am not heading toward trouble, Soph. Let’s just keep going.”

Sophie knew she had to tell someone. Myrna’s safety was more important than her freedom. The thought froze Sophie’s heart. Myrna could be institutionalized forever.

“Okay, let’s keep going. But slow down.”

They walked on.

Albert watched from the bushes. He would bide his time now that Myrna was out in the world again.