Last night,
a cool summer rain fell
while we slept.
The next morning,
the air felt cool
and refreshing.
My daughter and I
were walking to the car
on our way to a café.
Suddenly,
my daughter said,
“Our car isn’t here.”
“That’s strange,”
I said.
I was sure
it was here.
I walked
behind the parked cars.
I leaned forward
for a better look.
But I couldn’t see it.
Maybe
I had parked
somewhere else.
We walked
to another spot,
where I sometimes park.
It wasn’t there either.
So we walked back
to where
we had first looked.
This time,
we walked
along the front of the cars.
Then,
there it was.
A large SUV
had been blocking
my view.
My car
had been there
the whole time.
If I had walked
just a little farther
the first time,
I would have seen it.
A Different Story
Something about
that moment
felt familiar.
The same thing
had happened before.
I looked
between the parked cars.
I couldn’t see my car.
I didn’t walk
any farther.
“How could I forget?”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“Maybe I parked
by the shops.”
I stopped
trusting
my own memory.
I hurried
from one row to another.
I searched
the entire parking lot.
Then
I walked
all the way
to the shops.
Nothing.
So I went back
to where
I had first looked.
This time,
I walked
a little farther.
There
was my car.
I smiled.
It had been there
all along.
Story-making Thinking
For a long time,
I thought
my mind
made up stories
only when something
was missing.
When I didn’t have
enough information.
But that morning,
nothing was missing.
I knew
where I had parked.
I simply
stopped trusting
myself.
That’s when
I noticed
something new.
Sometimes,
story-making thinking
doesn’t begin
because reality
is unclear.
It begins
when we leave
reality
too soon.
Before
reality
has had a chance
to answer.
