Post by diall on Jun 13, 2009 1:00:49 GMT -5
S a d i e L a k e
Sadie groaned as her knees popped after only a moment of being bent while she chained her bike to the rack. Off each handlebar she unstrapped a rollerskate. Sitting on a nearby curb, she unlaced the neon orange converses she wore. Slipping her feet out of the shoes, she had them replaced by the skates in the span of sixty seconds, working the buckles with a practiced ease. Ordinarily, she would be accompanied by a backpack, but today she had wanted to travel light, and so the only items she carried were her phone, a few dollars in the backpocket of her cut off shorts, and now the converses which she tied by the laces and hung over her shoulder. Standing, she stepped up from the parking lot to the sidewalk. She had set out from her apartment with the intent of spending a day biking, skating, and swimming. Choosing a paved path that looked like it should lead in the direction of the lake, she started out at a leisurely pace.
While the path lead in the general direction of the lake, it was as indirect as possible, taking Sadie a half hour to cover. The sidewalk ended twenty yards from the water's edge, and since Sadie wasn't confident she could skate across grass, she stood on one foot at a time as she removed the skates. Barefoot, she walked over to a tree that stood close to the water and wedged the skates in the crook of the lowest branch. Climbing up after them, she stood on the thick branch, reaching over her head and hanging her converses on a branch about ten feet above the ground. Emptying her pockets, she deposited her money and cellphone into the shoes for safekeeping. She also moved her skates higher up before swinging down. Standing back, she decided her things were well enough protected and didn't intend on wandering far. Wading out into the water until it came up to midthigh, she looked around, pleased with her location. Only a few people swam nearby, the majority further down the shore. She expected though, that as the day progressed, more people would show up and claim her solitude.