The Keys Ch. 07

Within moments, she arrived at the bench that hid her belongings. She took a moment to examine herself. Indeed, she was smeared with filth, leaves, grass, and a single flower petal, all over her front. She could almost deal with it all, but it had spread across every inch of her exposed skin. There was nothing for it though. She bent over, giving the alleyway a clear view of her relatively clean backside, and retrieved her hidden items.

As always, the first order of business was placing the key inside her hat which she did so with mixed feelings. The key had also accumulated sticky mud to a degree that she wondered if it would work in the padlock back at the park. There were now four keys in the compartments and the hat was starting to feel heavier on her brow. Her next destination was not too far, and her body was grimy, so she decided to carry her backpack and shoes in hand for the next few minutes. For a fleeting moment, she felt like a naked tourist in an unfamiliar city. Or perhaps a lost girl from an extremely primitive tribe, transplanted to this foreign urban setting against her will.

But she was none of those things, and not one part of this evening was against her will. Well, perhaps she would have willed away the parts about almost being discovered. Then again, now that those parts were over, she was getting quite a thrill from thinking about those bits.

That's it. The memories.

Lydia realized that it was the memories of almost being caught, but not being caught, were probably the most fun thing about this to her. The thought of actually being caught was mortifying and stressful to say the least. She took a deep inhaling sigh and visualized breathing out her anxiety. It helped, a little. Lydia had been staring at the ground lost in contemplation again. She looked up to see that she was still in her alley, alone with her thoughts.

Muddy though she may be, there were still two keys out there to get. One, if she did not count the one that she left under the picnic table at the park. She perked up and stood straight, marching down the alley. Her next destination was a mere two blocks away. Lydia had every expectation that it would be an easy visit, but only if she moved along swiftly. It opened early and Lydia did not want to be around to greet the first customer in the nude.