By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
April 15, 2016
After the third Scrabble game, it was time for our first and only break of the tournament. I rooted through my knapsack, pulled out two pieces of fruit and headed for the mall exit. I wanted to have a productive break — I had an errand to run.
I walked out through the Sears, crossed the part of the parking lot that leads to a strip-mall annex on mall property and began treading the sidewalk. I was getting hungry, but I decided not to have a snack until after I’d done my shopping. I didn’t have any napkins on me, and I didn’t want to go into a store with messy fingers or a messy face. However, I hadn’t brought a bag with me, and I found it awkward to juggle the fruit (an apple and a pear, I think), so before I hit the shop, I stopped off at my house and put down the fruit in order to free my hands.
I started walking away from my house and then began to double back because the sky was ominous. The morning’s downpour had yielded to sunny skies, but now they seemed to be threatening again. After some hemming and hawing, I decided to try and race the rain.