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Carmel, California
From the moment she woke that morning,
Dr. Maisie Daniels' day had been a series of comedic
blunders bent on destroying her sanity. It started
the instant her alarm went off.
Scratch that.
The alarm failed to go off because its batteries
died during the night. Waking late, Maisie was
forced to cancel her morning appointments, informing
her secretary, Pam, she'd be in after lunch.
Maisie always tried to look at the bright side
of things and decided a stroll through town would
be just the thing to clear her head.
That theory held true until she closed the door
behind her. It wasn't as if the weather was bad.
The day dawned with the typical mist rolling in
from the Pacific, but it had burned off once the
sun came over the Santa Lucia Mountains. By the
time she left her little Comstock cottage on Torres
Street, one of Carmel's gingerbread cottages,
it was so warm she'd left her sweater at home,
wearing little more than a white t-shirt and denim
cut-off shorts.
What irked her was that her sweater sat on the
sofa beside her purse. She distinctly remembered
the location of her purse because it contained
her house keys. The same keys she'd left the house
without. The same keys she'd need to get back
in again!
"Well," Maisie sighed aloud, "a
stroll through town doesn't require keys. I'll
go to the office, get the spare set then come
back to get ready for work." Headed toward
town, she set off down Sixth Street, crossed Junipero
Avenue, and then cut through Devondorf Park.
The park encompassed one square block. Surrounded
by trees, the center of the park was lush green
grass. Flowerbeds in bloom dotted the park with
vibrant color.
At one side, poles flew the flags of the town,
state and nation. On the three remaining sides
were signs that simply read: No dogs, playing
ball, skateboarding, kite flying, climbing trees,
picking flowers, eating, drinking, littering.
Keep off the grass.
And Maisie's favorite: No loitering.
The town designed an attractive, fragrant and
peaceful park, then made it an offense to loiter.
Maisie wondered about the logic of the town council
sometimes.
With the threat of prosecution, Maisie hurried
through the park lest she be cited for dallying.
Midway across the park, her mind on getting
to the office, she stepped in something that shouldn't
have been on the path, let alone in the park.
When she looked down, two things crossed her mind.
The first of which was how thoughtful the dog
had been to stay off the forbidden grass.
But that thought was pushed aside when her gaze
slipped down her bare legs and saw what else was
on her feet. Her slippers. Not just any slippers,
but her pink bunny slippers!
She shot a quick glance around, suddenly panicked.
Had anyone seen the town's therapist traipsing
through the park in bunny slippers?
The answer was a resounding yes. One of Carmel's
finest stood on the sidewalk staring at her with
his mouth open. She might have been attracted
to his handsome dark features if she wasn't so
damned embarrassed! The quicker she got to the
office the better.
Without thinking, she rubbed her foot in the
grass to remove as much of the mess as possible,
then raced for Ocean Avenue. She paid little attention
to the stares she received and prayed she didn't
meet up with anyone she knew.
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