Big AND Perky

If I ever go anywhere for any length of time, I always find a favorite spot. When I lived in Gloucester I had many, but the dock jutting out into one of the brackish York River tributaries was probably my favorite. Call me a dork but certain places are just good for thinking. Here at UVA, my first was against the big tree on the Lawn. Its a great tree - one of those that seem they were made purposely for leaning against. The problem is that the Lawn is just too damn public. Those of you who know me know that I hate people - especially people that I don't know, and I really hate it when they intrude into my thoughts.

So I moved. I found a great spot, behind a certain building that I'll never reveal because I've never seen anyone else back there and I don't want to start. That is, I never saw anyone else back there until just the other day. As an only somewhat reformed goody good whenever I sneak around the corner of the building I feel just a twinge of guilt and excitment - as if I were doing something wrong. Its as if I'm always expecting some maintainence man to come around the corner, having seen me through the windows, and order me to clear off. Of course this is nonsense, there's absolutely nothing even remotely wrong with me being there, but nontheless. Public Grade School, bravo, now I can't ever sneak off the beaten path without feeling guilty. Of course this does make routine shortcuts seem all the more exciting.

The space behind the building is small, as it is situated in front of a road but up a fairly steep hill, which is more like a grassy mesa with a scrub covered cliff. The trees and the height itself work well to neatly block you from view of the road, though not really from the noise sadly.

Anyway, so I was sitting back there, leaning against another tree, one not quite so big, but just as comfortable, when, as if to confirm my worst fears, a maintainence man appears. Only he didn't come from around the corner - that is, from the building, but rather he emerged like some kind of wood sprite out of the shrubbery. My immediate reaction was to freeze, but years of trespassing with friends (despite the fear that this provoked) had trained my reflexes. In just a moments time I was waving and smiling, pretending that I had every right to be there and that he should just assume so and move on. He waved and smiled back and then walked around the building and away. As I started to sigh with relief and relax, I realized that he had been waving and smiling just the same way that I had been.

My natural fear at getting caught had kept me from asking the obvious question: What the fuck had he been doing there? How had he managed to come up the hill in the first place? And why?

Maybe he has a better spot down the hill a little ways...or maybe he thought he'd found a short cut so he could hurriedly get to his maintainence man business...or maybe he was running from the law and lept up the hill to avoid pursuit. Or maybe, just maybe, he was a changeling masquerading in maintainence man form, off to perform some bit of mischief with the President's Wife.

I think it was the latter, cause I swear I saw a smile on her face the other day, and I know for damn sure Casteen didn't put it there.