I Was Walking Down the Street One Day

(prompt and title) by E. Alan Meece
Band of Writers Essays by Eric Meece
January 12, 2025

I Was Walking Down the Street One Day, and I saw that all the houses and all the stores on it were burned down. And I wondered what time it is. It's getting late, I thought. Street after street, I saw everything burned. Not a nail, not a board left standing. Even the organization that might publish my next book is gone. Surfers lost their boards too.

I did see a cat walk by. She said meow, and I petted her. She wandered around looking for her owner. I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow. It was a hard rain that had fallen, a stiff wind that had blown.

It is getting late. And four years of Trump will make things even later, and hotter. We voted for this nightmare, and not just in last year's election, but for 44 years.

The Sun peared through the haze. There were looters, but many more providing help. Is it any use rebuilding? Will the city just burn down again? How many will die? How many more cities? Suddenly I saw a flower bloom. The skies turned blue. The smoke cleared. I woke up. It was not my city that burned. Not my street. Not this time. Not yet.