Laughter (Micro-Fiction Monday) (BEDS #1)

Her laughter broke the silence.

It came from a block away, maybe two. The neighbourhood was almost empty this early in the morning. At five am, the university students and young couples and single bachelors that inhabited the apartment buildings were normally still sleeping. Occasionally, he would see a jogger or two, or someone stumbling in from the graveyard shift at work. But that was rare.

That’s what made her laughter so interesting. It was unusual. Different.

It was nice.

He picked up his pace a little, hoping maybe he would catch a glimpse of her on the main street. Here, it was a little busier—but only just barely. A couple cars with early-morning commuters, on their way to work, or to the airport for whatever tropical destination awaited them. There was an older man across the street, walking a chubby beagle down the sidewalk.

But no girl.

He was about to shrug it off, continue on to his destination, but curiosity got the better of him. He walked a bit in the opposite direction, peering down the next street over. Finding it was just as sleepy as his own, he tried the next one. And the next. And the next.

No girl.

This was silly. He felt silly. He jogged back down the way he came, slowing back down to a walk as he headed past his street.

He heard it again—a laugh, bubbly and loud and echoing down the silent, sleepy buildings. As he passed the next block, he saw her—bedridden hair, dirty pajamas, face illuminated by the glow of her cell phone, smile stretching from ear to ear at a joke he couldn’t—and would probably never—see.

Beautiful.

~~

Until later,

- Justyne

Getting Lost (WFMAD Day 20)

"Life is a journey, not a destination."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are a few things you can count on when my friend Kristen and I get into a car together:

1. She will be the one driving

2. I will be riding shotgun

3. We will probably get lost

And that is where we found ourselves tonight, at 9:30, after dropping off a friend at home. Lost.

We drove into the city today, to go shopping and visit a few friends. After hours and hours of fun, we decided to run through a McDonald's drive-thru before heading home.

That was our first mistake. McDonald's.

In our defense, neither of us had ever really been to that part of the city before. Our friend directed us as to how to get back on the main--and more familiar--road before we parted ways, but that didn't really help us when we came out the drive-thru into a massive parking lot with virtually no sense of direction whatsoever.

Leave it to us to get lost in a parking lot. 

Instead of panicking, though, or debating routes and looking up the directions to where we wanted to go, we started laughing. And by laughing, I mean tears-in-your-eyes, exploding-bladder-inducing, breathless-and-shaking laughing.

That is by far my favourite kind of laughter. It's the kind of laughter that lingers; that still has you giggling to yourself a good half hour later (as we were).

Moments like these are definitely embarrassing, but they make for good stories to tell.

They also give me something to blog about.

Until later,

- Justyne

3 Reasons Why I Love My Job (WFMAD Day 8)

1. I get to have dance parties! While deboning chicken. But still, dance parties!

2. I have easy access to pie! I still have to pay for it. But still. Pie.

3. Most of the people there are awesome, even if some of aren't so awesome. They make me laugh and are fun to be with and totally don't mind that I whistle while I work.

Today was a good day. It's days like these that remind me why I chose to go back to my old high school job, despite all the times that I complain about it. (And those who know me know that I complain about it a lot.) 

Even though my job is not the most glamorous, and I sometimes find myself wondering why the hell I decided to return to it, the people I work with make it worth it.

To quote John Green, what you do is not nearly as important as who you do it with.

(Actually I think that might've been closer to a paraphrase, but you get the idea.)

Until later,

- Justyne