Beale AFB

I’m walking home alone at dusk, through suburban military housing, lost in thought, wondering what that guy was going on about, telling me Mark stole his bike. He was wrong, but I don’t know if he knew he was wrong and was trying to mess with my head or if he believed it. But then I hear a ‘splat’ and look down to see a hole in the concrete beside my sandal covered foot. The hole just landed there like in a cartoon and the ‘splat’ echoes in my head. It’s noticeably darker now, the sky gone deep grey. And I feel like Opey Taylor from Mayberry R.F.D, barefoot in the woods, walking to a fishing hole in black and white, whistling a tune. And this vision persists, that I’m simultaneously a tenth grader heading home and a character from an ancient sitcom I used to watch on TV. And suddenly I realize this is what being stoned is.