Red Light
splash of the sun.
"First stop in San Fran?" Jess asked from the hotel bed next to me. I dug a folded piece of paper out of the back pocket of my worn-in jeans and carefully unfolded it. My eyes scanned the list as I kicked my blue Vans off of my feet. After 'Sacramento', the letters 'SF' were scribbled in my messy handwriting. Under SF, 'AT&T' was written. "Ballgame tomorrow, J", I answered, folding the paper back up and throwing it on top of my suitcase, which was practically bursting at the seams. I fell back on the lumpy bed and sighed dramatically. "So. Tired." It had been a long trip so far, days stretching into weeks, waking up in a foreign place each morning. The summer had been made up of endless yellow dashes on the road, grimy truck stop bathrooms, and relentless heat. Although this hotel was nothing spectacular, it was better than sleeping curled up in the backseat of Jess's car. "Maybe the Giants will win tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be better than the Mariners game in Seattle last week." My friend responded while getting up and sifting through her suitcase, searching for her pajamas. I paused momentarily, letting it all sink in. "Yeah, maybe they will".
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San Francisco in the summertime is positively radiant. Colorful awnings adorn the tall buildings, and people of every shape, size, and race bustle down the sidewalks beneath them. The bay water sparkled in the sunlight, not a cloud littering the sky that was reflected on the surface of the ocean. AT&T Park rose tall above the ground, casting shadows on the calm waves beside it. It was still as new-looking as the day it was completed. As Jess and I approached the park, we fell into step with the crowd around us, all heading for the iron gates ahead. Small children grasped their parents' hands, eyes wide in curiosity. Others whooped and hollered, the excitement of competition already coursing through them. I felt a slight mix of both, staring up at the ballpark that I'd never laid eyes on before. No matter how many places I'd visited, the sheer wonder never wore off at discovering somewhere new.
We bought a pair of tickets at a ticket window, then headed inside to our outfield seats. The layout of the park was slightly confusing; We had to stop a few times to make sure we were traveling in the direction of our seating section. Once we got to our seats, the first inning had started and there was already a Dodger on second base. I studied the scoreboard, copying names from the Los Angeles lineup into the scorecard on my lap. "I don't understand why you insist on filling those in every game", Jess said from the seat next to me. I wrote the pitcher's last name in the bottom box with a small pencil. "Habit", I explained simply with a shrug of my shoulders. "Alex, the only people who do those are old men who still eat peanuts and bring radios to games. Is there something you're not telling me?" I looked out onto the field, where the home team was jogging toward the dugout, top of the first inning over. "Yeah, that I forgot my radio", I answered with a smirk.
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San Francisco in the summertime is positively radiant. Colorful awnings adorn the tall buildings, and people of every shape, size, and race bustle down the sidewalks beneath them. The bay water sparkled in the sunlight, not a cloud littering the sky that was reflected on the surface of the ocean. AT&T Park rose tall above the ground, casting shadows on the calm waves beside it. It was still as new-looking as the day it was completed. As Jess and I approached the park, we fell into step with the crowd around us, all heading for the iron gates ahead. Small children grasped their parents' hands, eyes wide in curiosity. Others whooped and hollered, the excitement of competition already coursing through them. I felt a slight mix of both, staring up at the ballpark that I'd never laid eyes on before. No matter how many places I'd visited, the sheer wonder never wore off at discovering somewhere new.
We bought a pair of tickets at a ticket window, then headed inside to our outfield seats. The layout of the park was slightly confusing; We had to stop a few times to make sure we were traveling in the direction of our seating section. Once we got to our seats, the first inning had started and there was already a Dodger on second base. I studied the scoreboard, copying names from the Los Angeles lineup into the scorecard on my lap. "I don't understand why you insist on filling those in every game", Jess said from the seat next to me. I wrote the pitcher's last name in the bottom box with a small pencil. "Habit", I explained simply with a shrug of my shoulders. "Alex, the only people who do those are old men who still eat peanuts and bring radios to games. Is there something you're not telling me?" I looked out onto the field, where the home team was jogging toward the dugout, top of the first inning over. "Yeah, that I forgot my radio", I answered with a smirk.
♠ ♠ ♠
okay, chapters will begin to get longer and more entertaining soon enough, this just needed to be written to lead up to what's going to happen. thank you to those who subscribed!Title from Cough Syrup by Young the Giant.