I’d been talking with a girl. I don’t know where we were, perhaps our college campus. It did sort of seem like Wayne State University, though later thoughts of driving to Walmart suggest we were more likely in Florida. Whatever the state or class subjects, there was romantic chemistry in the air.

We weren’t what people call boyfriend and girlfriend; just friendly acquaintances; but she did seem to have a crush on me as I kind of did on her. She was attractive enough; a slim girl with somewhat of a cute face and a skin tone about the color of mine. She also had what seemed to be a nice personality.

We were walking together, leaving campus or wherever we were for the day. It seemed the conversation was heading to the possibility of hooking up later to hang out or maybe even go on an impromptu date, but then it started to rain, which sent us scurrying off in separate directions to our cars.

I think she’d given me her phone number, so it wasn’t necessarily goodbye for the day. I remember thinking of calling or texting her but not wanting to seem more into her than she seemed to be into me. If she had my phone number, I probably would’ve waited to see if she would contact me first.

The next thing I remember is driving in the rain on a multi-laned street with traffic going both ways. I really enjoyed the drive, at least it seems in hindsight, perhaps only because of what just happened with the girl. I wasn’t in love or anything; her skin wasn’t as light as I normally go for; but I liked her.

That’s when I started thinking of Walmart. I was ultimately headed home but needed or wanted to stop at a grocery store first, which I did. It had started to get dark out by then. It wasn’t Walmart though. It was just a regular grocery store, which was good because I was tired of always going to Walmart.

2025 August 10