Goin' For A Walk Pt. 2

I took a walk through my neighborhood tonight. I got started a bit later than I usually do, and it's been cloudy lately, so it was kind of dark when I got started, and really dark by the time I was finished. It was about an hour walk , down to the local Walgreen's and back. It's a fairly quiet neighborhood, and I'm probably the scariest person around these parts, so I walk through the dark aware but unfearful. The streetlights are sporadic, so there's a nice mix of light and dark as I go across the sidewalk, enjoying the breeze as it picks up, then wanes, then picks up again. Unfortunately, the clouds obscure the full moon I know is hiding in the night sky, but even though it never shows itself in all its glory, I see , occasionally, an area of clouds illuminated from behind, like the eye of some great beast trying to peer through the dark forest of clouds. Cars go by, their headlights messing up my night vision, meaningless rap tunes coming out of open windows. I smell the earth, still damp from rains earlier in the day, and as I pass a house, I smell beans cooking...I don't like beans, but that's OK. I smell exhaust from passing vehicles, wet grass, leaves on the pavement, and piles of branches stacked up for brush pick-up day, like offerings to some strange god, who demands branches and old furniture as tribute. I see familiar houses and streets, painted in the colors of the dark, with big black strokes, dark blues, and the occasional patch of white and security-light yellow. I hear the occasional dog barking, either at me, or some other passenger of the night...maybe in warning, or maybe to ask to come with me, I'm not sure. I pass the convenience store, where people get gas for their cars and lottery tickets for their dreams. I eventually make it to Walgreen's , and enter to buy a drink. The flourescent lights damn near blind me, and the store -smell hits my nose like a slap. I make my purchase(sugar-free Red Bull...hypoglycemia's a bitch) and get the Hell out as fast as I can, and escape back to the welcoming darkness. I pass a female jogger, who runs a little faster as she passes me...I guess I don't blame her. I pass two male walkers who also give me a wide berth...am I that scary? I pass the bus stop, and the two people there stop talking as I go by, resuming after I am well past them. The wind picks up again, blowing in my face, my hair flowing with the wind, and I feel good...I've always liked the wind in my hair. Soon, I'm home again, and my eyes adjust to the light again, and I'm here, typing, drinking rum and Diet Coke (hypoglycemia's a bitch), and wishing I was back outside again, in the dark, going across the sidewalk, the wind in my hair, waiting for the moon to look out of the clouds at me.