A Walk in the Dark

I was maybe 10 years old, so I was grade school.

One winter night there was a heavy snowfall.

For some reason my parents allowed me to go out to roam around (very unusual).

I scoured the neighborhood looking for some of my friends.

My house was on the north side of the Garfield School grounds.

On the south side of Garfield was Nabb's corner store.

I never went there much because I thought mom and dad Nabb were short tempered and suspicious with young people.

They had a daughter perhaps 2 years my senior and as I remember she was a beautiful girl that was seldom seen.

That night as I trudged through the deep snow I saw her all alone in the school yard.

The snow was falling down, our eyes met, our first words were spoken.

I was not in a dark school yard; I was in heaven.

We walked, talked, admired the sight of the snow falling against the back lighting of a street lamp.

She started to feel the chill of the evening and asked me to walk her home.

I was fine with that, not wanting the evening to ever end.

We arrived at the store and she asked me to come in with her.

We had the whole store to ourselves and continued our conversation over a Coca-Cola and a snack.

That was the only thing the Nabbs ever gave away free as far as I know.

Alas the night ended and though I began going into Nabb's more frequently after that I never saw her again.

I went back to see the old neighborhood in 1968 and then in 1969, but I wish I had not done so.

The old house I had grown up in and my parents sold was empty in one year, with the windows broken and weeds in the yard 8 feet high.

The next year the house had been destroyed, leaving nothing but a vacant lot which is still bare.

Martin's and Nabb's stores were still standing, but with prison-like bars on the windows and doors.

That saddens me to this day.