On the way back from playing pool we saw a bum that resembled Charles Manson.

It's a nice day, summer sun shinning down from the picturesque blue sky. Not necessarily myself, but in the back yard of my childhood home, I stand in the grass. It's short and slightly brown like it always used to be. The fence hasn't been re-built as planks of wood so I can see through it, to the baby cat that's wandering aimlessly down the street. He's lost his mother and if I don't help him he'll be eaten by the lions. I shouldn't care, it's a part of life... but I can't let him die. I climb the tall fence to him. His only protest as I pick him up is a quiet squeek. He lets me carry him back over the fence to safety. Once there, we sit back in the dry grass, watching flies buzz by. There are no cars driving by, no people walking the sidewalks, nothing. He curls up into my lap, and when I look up from him I see three lionesses moving around outside the linked-fence, staring intently at my little orphan friend. and that's all I remember.

Time goes by fast. It's a little weird to think that I've been here for over half a year already. I've changed the furniture around, sold old possessions, and bought new ones... The apartment felt like home from the moment I moved in, I was so excited to finally be here. Now half a year has gone by and I'm trying to think of what all I've really accomplished. In reality, next to nothing. Mostly everything that has happened that's important is in my head. Realizations, that is. I've learned important things about myself and the world around me-- about who I want to be, as opposed to not liking who I was as a person in the past. I'm exactly where I want to be.

I can't see them when I look out the window, but there are construction workers somewhere outside my apartment. They seem very close, call each other "dude", and sound like they're in their early forties. The sound of their tools and their yelling over those tools has kept me from going back to sleep.

Just as well. Dreams can be pretty creepy, especially when there's a headless stuffed doll nailed to a sign that reads: Please don't bake the bread.