Making assumptions

I'd make a lousy eyewitness.

Last night, sometime after 6:00, but earlier than 7:00, there were two ambulances over at the store. They were there for what seemed a long time. How long? Beats me. Long enough for both Dick and I to think that whoever was in there must be dead. And when they took off, they went in what I thought was the wrong direction (and I can't give you specifics because I realize I don't know if this is an east/west road or a north/south road, which is crazy, 'cause I've lived in this county for nearly twenty years).

Well, the wrong direction is towards a hospital that is further away than the right direction, if you are wondering. This meant to me that someone was either dead or needed more care than the hospital in this county could provide.

I just got back from walking over to the store. It seems particularly quiet today. It's gray, drizzling and the air has a cold bite to it, not like the unusual warmth we've had for a week. As I walked along the road, I remembered the ambulances from last night and wondered why we didn't give a second's thought to the possibility that a baby was being born. No, we imagined death. Maybe a hold-up. Someone having a heart attack. Something bad.

The store was as quiet as a library. Maybe it's always like that and I just don't notice, but I doubt it. I didn't see anyone familiar working there and got worried. Maybe someone who worked there died. I said to the stranger behind the counter, "I know I'm being nosy, but did something terrible happen here last night?" The minute I said it I felt foolish. "Something terrible?"

That's when I realized I truly have been living in a fictional world all week. This is real life and something happened to a real person.

For the sake of privacy, I won't tell you what happened. I don't know the details, but I will. It is a small town, after all. A non-fictional small town.

Photo note: Some Maine road. Looks a bit big. Is it going East, West, North or South?