I wanted to stop half way up the steps for a rest...

but I did not. I was probably sweating and panting. Must impress female by showing I'm fit enough to climb stairs... I think I can...I think I can. What do you know? I actually could. Maricel held back and didn't sprint up ahead of me. I rang the bell and after a long pause and some noise inside a fairly hot looking blonde answered. It was definitely not Juanita. Half her size and a third of her age from the looks of her. She looked me up and down and did not seem impressed.
"Yeah?" She said.
"Is Danny here?" I asked feeling like a child coming over to play.
"No." She said.
"Uh, where is he?" I countered.
"Florida." She said.
"Florida?" I asked incredulously.
"Yeah, him and his nurse are in Florida. Some kind of health thing, the doctors think it's better for his health."
I hadn't been aware that Florida was good for paralysis.
"So he's in Florida with Juanita?"
"Yeah." She said. "I'm just the housesitter. I make sure nobody breaks in and I keep the mail box clear and put away the papers."
"I've been trying to get in touch with him." I said. "Is his e-mail and cell still the same."
"Same as what?" She asked. "As far as I know."
"I haven't heard back." I said.
"I don't mean to be rude, but maybe he doesn't want to talk to you. If he didn't even tell you he was going to Florida..."
"I guess you have a point." I said.
"Well if I hear from them, I'll make sure he knows you came over." She said. "I mean I can't let you in or anything 'cause I'm not allowed and I don't think I should give out his number or anything."
"I understand." I said. "Would you like to know who I am, so you can tell him I called?"
"Oh, yeah." She laughed.
"Simon Wolfe." I said and I paused to wait for her name. "Miss..."
"Carver." She said. "Heather Carver."
"Nice to meet you Heather." I said.
It really wasn't that nice to climb all those stairs to have a blonde ignore me, but there' no reason to be rude about it, is there?

See you in the funny papers...
Simon

What is this thing called exercise?

And why does my nearly perfect new best friend want me to do it? Troubling eh? She made me take a walk with her after the shop closed. Made me, I tell you! She looked at me and said, "Simon do you want to take a walk with me?" So there I was, cornered and forced to walk! The horror! The terror! The sidewalk is so hard. We went out to the overlook by the river. Heck of a view and the sign says it's the widest scenic overlook on the Maumee river between Indiana and Lake Erie. Pretty huh? My tax dollars at work and all. So while I was out and about, I decided we'd go up the road a bit and swing by Danny Anderson's house. It look odd, like nobody was there. Not neglected, but there weren't the usual planters of petunias that his nurse Juanita maintained during the summer. I hadn't noticed until now though I'd probably driven past a hundred plus times over the summer. So I decided to climb up the long flight of stairs and ring the bell. (You can get in on the ground floor from the alley in the back, that's why the paralyzed guy lives there.)