They sat together on the park bench. He was reading a newspaper and she was feeding the pigeons. They had done this for nearly 40 years. The man closed his paper and asked his wife, “Do you want to take a walk through the park today? It is a beautiful day out.”
She threw more of the breadcrumbs at the growing circle of birds and said, “But I still have bread for the birds, and you haven’t finished reading the paper yet.”
“Come on Doris, we haven’t been down those paths in years.” He nudged her arm a little, “I am tired of the same old thing.”
“I don’t see why you are stirring up a hornet’s nest, but I will give it a try.” She slowly stood and took his hand. No more than 5 yards down the path a bicycle came up on the couple from behind and could not turn fast enough. The rider crashed into Doris and she went down on the ground. Her husband, taken by surprise stumbled and fell too.
As the EMT’s were loading Doris in the ambulance for a broken leg, she turned towards the stretcher her husband was on and said, “Next time don’t mess with our routine Christopher. Remember, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Written for Fandango’s February Expressions (FFE) #3
Leigha Robbins 