skating through new town

2024-03-28

My parents moved to the outskirts of a new city. It was very hilly, very lush and green. Beautiful city. One of my best friends had coincidentally just moved to the city too, so we all decided to go visit him.

We drove into the city and parked and decided to stroll through downtown on the way to their apartment.

I got separated from the group and started rollerblading down this steep hill while pushing an old wooden rocking chair. There were small pockets of snow piled up around the edges of the sidewalk, so I was careful to avoid those. Whenever I started going a little too fast, I would scoot around from behind the chair to in front of the chair and do a little power slide to slow down.

At the bottom of the hill, I abandoned the chair and the skates and continued walking. On a whim, I stepped into a clinic to ask about this persistent sinus pain I’ve been having. The doctor decided it was worth draining, so got me into a chair and set up a line in the heel of my foot to drain my sinuses. (It’s the lowest part of the body, they explained. The pressure will draw the stuff right out!)

My chair was reclined and was super comfy, but was set up in the center of the open clinic. And at one point, some lady leaned against my chair and accidentally mashed a button, and my chair started slowly lowering and I couldn’t stop it. With growing alarm, I tried to get the attention of one of the doctors before it crushed my legs or something.

Eventually the procedure is finished. I feel much better and I leave. I text my family to let them know I made a pit stop that took longer than expected, but I am now on my way to meet up with them at my friend’s place.

I eventually get to where he lives. Turns out it is in this huge parking garage converted into a kind of outdoor arcade. There are apartments along the outside of the parking garage and they are numbered but in an unpredictable way. Pete is there, and we’re both on our skates again and I’m trying to help them up and down off of little steps while we look for the apartment because their confidence is not very high.

Eventually I give up trying to find the place and call my friend, and he comes outside, and I can hear him down the way, so I skate over and find him, and his wife is there and they have their new baby which is although being newly born is about the size of a five year old and it shakes my hand and introduces itself in full sentences and insists that it is actually 38 years old even though it is clearly 8 weeks old chronologically and 5 years old biologically.