Chapter 2: Chapter 2
As she got closer to her house, the wind picked up and the trees whipped into each other. Leaves littered the ground like confetti. Oh, look. There he is. That must be Mr. Clemons, the groundskeeper. He always parks his car in the same place and I always see him mowing the lawn.I wonder what he thinks about me.
"Hey, there, stranger," said Mr. Clemons as he stopped his car in front of hers. "How was your day?"
"Good as usual," she said as she opened the door and stepped out. "Thank you for asking." Her voice trailed off as she took in the state of the neighborhood.The houses looked run-down and tired. Some were even boarded up. "What happened to the park?" she wondered aloud as she made her way up the path to her house. It was like a ghost town. Not a soul to be seen. "Did everyone move?""No, it's just that nobody cares about the park anymore.Nobody goes there anymore. It's too busy worrying about their own lives. So, I'm the one that has to tend the park now. It s my job." She smiled despite herself. "I love working in the garden. It makes me feel like I have control over my life.I'm not a slave to the city." She paused as she considered the state of the world today. "It's not like we have any control over anything anyway. Might as well plant some flowers and enjoy the peace they bring."
"Well, that and the fact that you can read while you do it," he said with a grin on his face."I don't suppose I could ever get you to stop reading, could I, Missy?"
"Never," she said with a smile before However , she knew deep down inside that everything had changed since those days. Even though she loved tending the plants and flowers in the small patch of grass behind her house, she missed the old times. When people cared about things.When people read. When people wrote letters. When people were kind. When people were real.
"You know, you don't have to go all the way to the park to read. You could do it right here in the living room," he said as he pulled up a chair next to her and sat down.