Northern_Lights_2016

45 An Ordinary Day ( Dream ) Katie Johnson Mary’s tiny frame was nothing significant. She was maybe five feet tall and weighed 100 pounds soaking wet. Most of the time, her body made her feel defenseless and childish. Her blonde hair bounced and frizzed any way it well pleased. Every morning she spent endless amounts of painstaking moments taming the outliers. And every evening she would come home to more frizzies than she had woken up to. She had wide set emerald green eyes with golden flecks that shone in the sun. But these shone the brightest when her heart was the happiest. Her fashion choices were nothing to brag about. She had no expensive clothes or fabulous hairstyles. She always tried to keep up with the fashion trends, but she always felt one step behind the times. She walked the same route home every day from her journalist job in New York City. Her job was not glamor- ous. But she was thankful for how far she had gotten through all her hard work and determination over the last two years. She was only 24 and she was well on her way to becoming the youngest female vice president the magazine had ever seen. It was the one thing in her life she could hold onto and be proud of. Even through all her un-fabulousness and insignificance, at least she was intelligent and had a career to brag about. Many men caught her eye when she walked to and from her job in New York City. But, she never had the cour- age or the brass to talk to any of them, she would sometimes have the nerve to smile at them. But if they ever caught sight of her or even, God forbid, smile back at her she would blush and immediately resolve to stare at the ground the rest of the way home. But even as she stared at the ground, she held onto the ridiculously romantic notion that one day, her invisibleness would disappear and someone, some man would sweep her off her feet despite her awkward smiles and shy manner. Surely some man out there existed. She fantasized about a tall, mysterious man who would demand she marry him and they would live happily ever after. But no such man ever appeared. After one particularly frustrating day at the office, Mary didn’t even bother to look up at her fellow pedestrians on her walk home. She knew it well enough by now that it didn’t even matter. Her man candy daydream was nowhere near her thoughts as she mulled over her list of strategies for solving particularly difficult problems at the magazine. Her mind was so caught up in her problem solving skills that she didn’t even see the tall stranger walking towards her until she was on the ground, mark-ups of her magazine covers strewn everywhere. Mary didn’t often lose her temper, but she was getting ready to lose it now. She gathered her things and wound up to pack a vocal punch. But as she looked up, her eyes were greeted by the most beautiful male specimen she had ever seen. He was so tall that his head blocked the sun, giving him a radiant complexion. “I . . . uh . . . oh my gosh. I am so sorry. I was not paying attention. Are you . . .” she gulped. “Are you ok?” She was sure her mouth was down to the ground in pure amazement. He grinned, revealing a set of perfectly straight and white teeth. His eyes were kind and seemed to radiate com- passion. “Oh, doll, of course I’m ok. You’re the one that toppled to the ground. The real question is are you all right? Here,” he reached out his hand. “Let me help you up.” As Mary grasped this well-dressed man’s hand, she couldn’t help but admire his strength. He seemed to practi- cally radiate confidence, not to mention beauty. “Oh I’m quite fine, thank you. I wasn’t looking where I was going. But I’m glad you’re fine.” She giggled nervously and sighed. “Well, I should be going. Sorry again for running into you.” “Well, actually I was coming up to talk to you,” he said. Her eyes practically bugged out of her skull. He laughed. “Yes, you. I actually have a house not too far from here and you walk home about the same time I have to run back to my house between jobs. I’ve noticed you almost every day for several weeks now, and I was thinking you would be the perfect girl to ask to help me out with a few things. I had finally committed to asking you when we collided. Again, I’m so sorry. I was sure you were going to see me in time. Obviously, I was mistaken.” He continued to flash his charming smile and she could not believe how cute he was. Even his eyes seemed to smile. She blushed and her hands shook as she pushed her frizzy mess of bangs out of her face. She couldn’t handle how odd but romantic this situation was. “So, anyway,” he continued, “what I was coming to ask you is quite simple actually. I wouldn’t burden you with this if I knew it was going to be complicated. Every day I have 30 minutes to rush home and drop off this briefcase to my buddy. He usually helps me with sorting through documents for my newspaper job, looking through potential stories and such, so I have a head start before I get home from my second job. Because I have to drop this off, I always end up late for my second job. As you can imagine, my boss is getting fed up with me. I couldn’t help but notice you’re also a journalist, so I figured you would understand better than anyone else.”