Concrete Games

Every morning, Kelsey and I walk a little over a mile (or about two kilometers) downhill to the tram stop. My bones feel wasted from walking the same mile uphill the night before and I'm usually hungry by this time. There is a lovely bread and pastry shop down at the tram stop, I get dva (2) stanbikovas for osm Korunas (8 Krowns or roughly 40 cents)- YUMMY!... I'm getting a bit off topic.

I find myself playing these games, that I did not agree to, that I for some reason know the rules and follow. There are cracks on the ground, there are lines on the ground, there is tons of cobble stone! Well the rules are quite simple actually, ten lives. If you step on a crack, you lose a life; if you step on the line where two stones meet, you lose a life; if you step on a solid painted line (note the solid) you get an extra life.

I find myself playing this game mostly when Kelsey and I are walking up to our flat. We are usually either pretending to know Czech and talking to each other or making some weird joke that I'm sure make the people around us know that we are foreign (of course nothing rude or belligerent) - we don't look Czech though, so people already know we're foreign, though I'm getting off subject again.

I fall into the same routine, avoiding the concrete lines and cracks, walking along the curb when there is lots of little cobble stone, going out of my way to make giant strides when the cross walk comes so I can get my extra lives. Kelsey will sometimes follow suit avoiding the same things or he'll run defense for the concrete and push me as I walk on the curb or pretend he's going to push me so that I flinch and lose my balance.

I just can't help it, I begin walking and automatically begin playing these concrete games.


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