Ben
When they first let me out of bed after my accident, I was starving for information. Mom told me all sorts of stories about myself, but there was a whole world to learn. And my ability to go to college in the fall hinged on how quickly I could re-learn it. So I told Mom I picked up a summer job and started people-watching.
In the morning, I would go to the nearest park and wait for someone interesting to walk by. Then, I’d follow them. Copy their walk. Listen to the conversations they had and fill in the blanks they left. Figure out their lives like the whole world was a puzzle, and if I placed enough of the pieces, the life I didn’t remember would appear in shadow between them.
WhileI referred to it as people-watching, the old man who brought the case against me called it stalking.
