The people, as they pass in the opposite direction, look me straight in the eyes for a full second before turning away. I am conscious of everything. The teenage girls giggling at the storefront window, the jingle of change in a beggar's cup, the exhaust of the automobiles. For some reason I'm content feeling all of this, watching her calves move up and down with every step.
It's far but instead of taking the bus we walk. We didn't decide on this. Ellen just goes.