Current Meetup

The Walk

A few weeks ago I happened to be walking my dog along the old train tracks crossing into Alex's hometown not too far from where I lived myself. It's a nice walk so I tended to alternate to this place once in a blue moon. It's not exclusively because of him living there and, to be honest, I wasn't even thinking about him when I decided to take the pup up this trail. It was just a nice new change of pace for that day.

Everything seemed to be going fine until the dog pulled at the leash. I knew that was a sign of another dog nearby. I looked up from my music selection I was browsing on my phone to see a tall man and his own dog coming towards me. This usually didn't bother me, except the fact that I'd have to go through some awkward exchanges and apologize for my pet. But, as I was getting closer, my stomach turned in knots.

I recognized him right away. A wonderfully dirty blond scruffy man and his equally blond husky came into my line of sight. He sported a typical hoody, jogging pants and a ball cap since it was a nice temperate October morning.

My dog started to squirm a bit more frantically, since he's a husky-mix too, and just wanted to say hello to the other canine.

As he got closer, I became really nervous. Bashful, even.

I knew this guy. It was Alex. A little older in the face but it's definitely still him. Why was this guy showing up in my life so much and why couldn't I control the butterflies?

As we approached each other, his eyes met mine and I was suddenly drawing a blank. My dog was already excited to meet his pooch and we were now only 4 feet apart. He stopped and gave me that half dazed smile and I completely melted inside.

I never thought I'd ever see this guy again. But there he was, standing in front of me, waiting for my next move. What could I say other then a polite greeting? He knew me. He's known me ever since I was 17. So why couldn't I say anything other then a dumb dorky "Hi!"?

Why did I feel so fucking nervous?

"Hey," he said while staring at me with his intense dreamy blue eyes.

Our dogs also made their friendly accointances while we just both stood awkwardly smiling at each other.

"It's been a while," I finally piped up.

"It has," he affirmed. "I hadn't seen you at any of the shows since our band restructured itself back in 2015,"

"I know. I moved so I couldn't come by to watch you guys as much," I admitted.

"Life's like that, isn't it?" He chuckled.

"Yeah, it sure has changed."

"So what brings you in these parts of town?" He questioned further, surprising me that he even wants to have such a conversation.

"Oh, well, it's a nice trail so I come here once in a while. Plus I don't live far."

"Oh yeah? Where do you live now?"

"I rent an apartment in Bairnsdale." I pointed with my thumb behind me to the general direction of my place.

"That's not too far. I got my house right over the river back there," he gestured over the river running beside the trail.

"So I heard." I smiled.

"So you've heard about me?" He smirked.

I sensed he would see right through my response so I clarified as to not seem like some weird stalker, "Well it's hard not to since you've made a name of yourself. Plus, don't you DJ at the local radio station?"

"Ah that's true. Small towns will talk, I suppose," he concurred, "And yes, I do work there."

"That's an interesting job. Do you like it?" I asked.