Everyday when Claire wakes up, she goes for a walk in her neighborhood before starting her day. She enjoys watching the Earth wake up with her, and she loves to take the time to reflect on her thoughts.

Claire lives alone on the second floor of an old Victorian mansion. It was once a single family home that was turned into two apartments. One floor went to her and the other to a man named Gerald. Gerald was a simple man with no purpose who never came out of his house; Claire could not imagine being in the house all day like Gerald, that is why she walks.

On the same route every morning, Claire passes three houses before she has to cross a street. She crosses the street and goes two blocks before turning around and coming back. At the end of the two blocks there is a large tree stump in the middle of Mr. Greene’s yard.

Mr. Greene was a nice old man who had a not so nice family. They sent him to a home and sold off his land. The lot sat there empty except for the stump. The stump was a marker for the end of Claire’s walk because it always made her thinking go astray. She could not bear the thought of someone selling an innocent man’s land, especially his family.

Today is Tuesday morning, and on this particular Tuesday, Claire has an important board meeting at 10 a.m. Claire knows they plan to set deadlines for her to complete projects that she already finished. She is going to take on that meeting with confidence. So, her walk this morning happened to be for exercise and routine instead of thinking and reflecting.

Claire passed the three houses, crossed the street, and walked the two blocks. She made it to Mr. Greene’s yard and stopped. Something told her to sit on the stump facing where the house used to be. Looking at the horizon, Claire realized that she was brought here for a reason. The reason was to keep Mr. Greene’s former land alive. The first thing she thought to do was to plant a garden. She would have to find the owner of the land now, but she would do to show the beauty in this Earth along with the beauty in Mr. Greene’s kindness. Her new project would start as soon as possible, which was not right now. She needed to make it to work on time; however, after work Claire vowed to come back here and act on her purpose.

Photos: Analisa Jeffries