37 steps; left turn; 29 steps; catch the bus.
Outside my oversized window they are there again, sitting together, holding hands on a bench. Faces turned toward each other, smiling as they wait.
37 steps; left turn; 29 steps; catch the bus.
She's alone today, this is not uncommon. Unusual is her hands fluttering at her eyes even as she defiantly tries to restrain them in her lap. Down the block he's walking away, head down, long strides, with his fists shoved into his pockets.
37 steps; left turn; 29 steps; catch the bus.
The bench waits, empty.
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Obsessive compulsive disorder with a little romance thrown in? Very good.
I saw you posted this on your blog this week; I regret missing it when you posted it a few months ago because it's a fun piece. I like the symmetry of it with the repeating cadence and the story moves forward with each step.
Nitpicky: I wonder if "Unusual, though, is..." would help make your fourth paragraph's second sentence easier to understand on first read (maybe it's just me), and I wonder if your second paragraph's first sentence could be re-tooled to rely less on slightly ambiguous pronouns (they, there) and more on specifics (a couple / he and she, the bench).