I went for a walk yesterday and I didn’t see flowers. I didn’t see birds or green leaves. I saw nobody I knew. Nobody to stop and have a chat with (if I wanted to stop and have a chat, which I didn’t, not really).

On my walk, I didn’t see skyscrapers. I didn’t see a lake or the ocean. I didn’t see my parents or my besties. I didn’t see anyone from work.

I didn’t see farmland, I didn’t see industry, I didn’t see a city, I didn’t see a forest. No waste water plant, no rivers.

I didn’t see a stationery shop or a book store, a pastry shop or a local cafe. I didn’t see iron verandas or balconies or balustrades. I didn’t see people leaning on porch rails watching the world go by. I didn’t see folks on the sidewalk catching up. I didn’t see anyone walking a cat on a leash.

I didn’t see snowflakes or raindrops. I didn’t see an American flag hang motionless.

I didn’t see anyone in nurse’s scrubs, I saw no men or women in business suits. I didn’t see anyone rollerblading or biking, skateboarding or hiking. I didn’t see beer bottles litter the sidewalk. I saw no broken windows or doors with bars on them.

I did not see buskers, I did not see graffiti. I didn’t see a block party. I didn’t see a pen shop. Nobody ate ice cream.

I didn’t see open windows with curtains billowing in them. I didn’t see anyone on a bench reading a book. I didn’t see anyone holding hands.

I didn’t see anyone fight. I saw no animosity. I didn’t see a Volkswagen beetle.

So random, right? This was a fun writing prompt from Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones Deck that my daughter gave me for Christmas. The prompt was to go for a walk and then write what you didn’t see.