Other People's Troubles Are So Boring

The seasonal change has not gone well for me. It has been disastrous, really, though I had a jury summons today for which I was not required to report, so there is that. The first day of autumn here was like walking inside somebody's mouth, as a friend of mine said. It seemed to be the worst heat of the year.

I am making mistakes, and they are beginning to add up to an overwhelming sum. Exponential growth is sure to follow unless I find some quick magic. Potions, nostrums, elixirs and medicaments are welcomed.

* * * * *

I drove the hundred miles to the university town to try and find a place to live. School was to start soon and I had begun my search far to late. I was beginning to think that I would not be able to come to school for logistic reasons, and I was wondering if it might not be a good thing. All about me were kids my own age, and they all looked hip, confident and cool. I had found the great banquet of life, and I was wondering if I had the manners and the accouterments to go.

I walked around the campus, just getting the feel of things. The place was an amazement and a labyrinth in which I got caught. I walked for twenty minutes looking for a particular building and ended up where I had started. Nearby, there was a rocky outcropping surrounding a deep natural pool. It was shady there, and I decided to sit awhile. It was quiet. I was out of the way, it seemed. An occasional group would pass by on their way somewhere. They all looked happy. I stared into the dark water ten feet below me for a few minutes before I saw the small alligator slide from the bank. I jumped with surprise of course, if not fear. I had not noticed it sitting on the bank between the rocks. I could have been eaten! Well, not eaten, maybe, but bitten. It was a small alligator, but still. . . . What a wild place, I thought, where alligators have a place in the middle of the campus. Looking around to see if anyone noticed me, I got up to walk again.

I had found a place to live on the edge of town in a new-ish apartment complex. It would be OK, I thought, if a little expensive. It looked like the place I was leaving. It would be my new home.

I walked between two rows of magnolia trees. It was beautiful here. I was terrified.