V.
“You’ll be fine. Just keep the hood up,” the sock puppet told him. “I’ll
hide myself in your pocket. We’ll be fucking fine.”
The puppet nuzzled himself into Luke’s hoodie pocket.
Luke sighed and stepped out of the building. The sidewalks didn’t look as
clean as they once had. Within the first block, he
noticed several cracks. He wondered if the city was using all its
resources to find him.
There were weeds growing from the cracks. Had those always been there?
Luke was pretty sure he had never seen a weed before, not in the middle of
a sidewalk at least.
He kept his head down. He didn’t know if the heat had died down enough for
him to be out in public. He was also wearing a hoodie in ninety-degree
weather, which would definitely draw attention.
Fortunately, after the first block, there weren’t many people on the
street. He passed the huge Bible-Mart parking lot. Staying on the
sidewalk, he avoided most people’s stares. He glanced back at the store,
remembering his grocery trips. Bible- Mart had everything he needed and
was one of the preferred corporations in Bibleopolis.
Two blocks past the store, the sock puppet suddenly pushed himself out of
the hoodie pocket.