I noticed a brown spot on the ground near my house this morning. Maybe it was dog poop. Like someone had stepped in it. Unaware. Slid across a section of the sidewalk.
I did that in our dining room late one night. Our old dog had an accident. I know the feeling.
I moved on, played ball with Jere. Avoided the smear on my walk home. Weird. After a hot day, the spot didn’t dry out. If anything, it looked bigger. I guess it was too attractive for other dogs to pass up. They must have piled on.
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I saw the brown spot again this afternoon. It’s been a few days. No need to go back in between days. No reason to obsess. Someone else’s mess.
Maybe a mind trick. The spot looked bigger. Raised up off the ground. Not a lot, but more than I remember. It was a more of smear and streak before.
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At lunchtime today. Riding my bike home. Someone had put a cone next to the brown spot. Like one of those traffic cones. Maybe an underground leak?
Whatever, it looked a lot bigger. Like someone had shoveled sand on top of a pile of mud. I used to do that in reverse. Taking down sandy ant hills with splashes of mud.
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It’s been a few days. The spot was sectioned off by cones for about a week. Now it has overtaken the cones. Crept up across the sidewalk and into the yard a few houses away. “Crept” is not the right word. This thing isn’t alive.
Like someone inverted a sinkhole. Gashed a hole in the road. The sludge is oozing out into the flat sections. Now, it is working its way uphill?
I hope they figure it out soon. I think other people are getting worried; our street is pretty quiet.
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Last week. The spot was still pretty small. A few blocks away.
Now. It moved next door to my house. Covering yards and steps of neighbors. I have not seen them. Maybe they are using their back doors. Enter, exit, avoid. I would avoid that thing, too. Just keeps getting bigger.
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Weird.
Each morning I wake up.
Now, it seems like the world is getting smaller. My neighborhood used to seem so small. Now, we are expanding.
Making everything else seem small.
Still, it’s nice to be part of something.