Sitting on a park bench, Tristan could feel a slight breeze rustle the hair around her face. She sighed and began to gather up her lunch sack and resealable dishes as she ran over the list of things that she had to do yet that afternoon before returning back to work. Glancing at her watch she realized that she had better get a move on if she was going to get it all done. She took off walking North up Diana St. past the warehouses that housed the local boats storage where she worked and a welding supply factory that had been closed for business since July. She and the owner of the now defunct welding supply had become good friends over the years, often sharing the same bench in the park for lunch. They had swapped stories of their lives over lunch on that bench, and Tristan had always looked forward to the times when they ran into each other there.
 
Feeding the squirrels and pigeons became their activity of choice during these friendly lunch breaks. Hal would break of the crust of his sandwich and crunch up some corn chips and dole it out gingerly to the critters that would come the closest. Tristan missed Hals company now that he had to close up shop because the economy had forced him out of business. As far as she knew, the local boats storage was not suffering and had no plans for lay offs, for which she was grateful. Her livelihood depended on this job. As she stopped in to make a deposit into her bank account before returning to work, she wondered what had happened to Hal. She sent out a mental image of him doing well, attached feelings of security and warmth to it, and sealed it with the energy of new beginnings before she sent it out into the ethers, hoping that it found its way.