Troublesome

So I realized after first period that the only way I could get into my house was if my brother got home before me. When the thought finally occurred to me that I had forgotten to replace my garage door opener back into my bag, slowly sliding my hand back and forth across the inside pocket, I confirmed that there was indeed no familiar lump that was the remote to my garage.

This upset me, as I knew it would rain the entire week, and I was not too keen about being locked outside my house, not only in the cold, but in the rain as well. My nose was excessively runny the entire day too, and I was not pleased with the idea of catching a real cold.

Luckily for me, by the time I did get home the rain had stopped, although I was still in the same predicament. Clever me then comes to the conclusion, however, that I would just walk to the neighboring shopping center and just waste away the time there.

So I did, though I encountered a man while I was there. He seemed to be an average man, not a bum but not wealthy either, dressed in the plainest clothes.

I accidentally made eye contact upon leaving the store.

"Excuse me," he said in a very soft-spoken voice. "Can you do me a favor?"

I stared. Never speak to strangers, right?

"I was wondering if you could spare a few singles. I ran out of gas and I can't get home."

I hesitated for a moment. In that moment, my stomach lurched forward slightly. I remembered my friend's mother telling us about how she was placed into a similar situation. Was it a scam? Would he attack me? When I came back to the present, I was suddenly struck with the dilemma of being nice or maintaining my distance. Standing there under the lights in my new, pink, strawberry-printed scarf, he must assume that I had some cash on me. In the next two seconds, however, I reasoned that as a child, my money was limited and it was not my own to give.

I shook my head slowly. "No. Sorry," I mumbled into my scarf.

Luckily, my brother had just arrived to pick me up. I hopped into the car, quickly, not so much because I was scared but because I knew thoughts must be running through the man's head after seeing my brother's well-kept, shiny black car. Indeed, I saw him eyeing us as we pulled away, and I felt relieved to be gone.

And to think that all that resulted from one forgetful move on my part.

How troublesome.