STL. 2 PHL, vol. 2

 

 

STL 2 PHL, vol. 2

Kate opened the door and stepped onto the stoop of her apartment building.  The air was brisk and smelled damp, like the snowflakes were invisible and waiting for the perfect moment to appear. A sharp gust of wind struck Kate and forced her to take her first step of the night’s journey. 

As she stood there, in the middle of the sidewalk, she realized she didn’t know a single thing about the nightlife in her new city. A small group of girls her age passed her going in one direction; a young couple passed her going in the other. Kate silently went through her customary “Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Mo” ritual as quickly as she could. 

“Left, it is”, she said to herself, with a certainty that pleased her.

As she began roaming from block to block, she noticed that nearly everything about the city was foreign to her. She didn’t recognize any of the streets, buildings, local papers or businesses. She didn’t know where she could find a cheap glass of wine, a good book, an old movie or decent live music. The people she saw were just as unfamiliar, passing hurriedly, without so much as a glance toward her. Just as Kate was beginning to feel the tears starting to work their way back up to her tired eyes, her mother’s calming voice popped into her head, “You’ll be comfortable there in no time, Katie”. The encouraging words produced a slight grin. She shook the tears back down, un-furrowed her eyebrows and continued on her way.

At the corner up ahead, two women were getting out of a cab. As one of them reached back in the passenger window to pay the driver, the other adjusted her sport jacket and tie. Her jeans were fairly tight at the waist and grew looser at her knees. Kate was totally consumed and fascinated by the handsome woman. She drastically slowed her pace in order to maximize the time she had to fully take-in the rare beauty. The mystery woman had short black, spiky hair and a light olive-colored skin. She had sharp, masculine features and Kate couldn’t keep her eyes off of her. As Kate walked at an abnormally sluggish speed, stumbling here and there, it happened. Without warning, the woman glanced in Kate’s direction and for a fraction of a second, their eyes met. Kate felt her heart leap into her mouth. She shyly closed her eyes and looked down at the ground. After a painful moment of inner-conflict, she looked back up to the corner where the woman had been standing. Kate saw the cab speeding off down the dark street, but no mystery woman. Kate hurried to the corner, and peered to the right, down the cross street. There she was, about a half of a block away, walking side-by-side with her companion.  

“Right, it is”, she said to herself, with an uncertainty that pleased her.

 – Jenny Dugger

 

STL 2 PHL is a monthly column that is an ongoing short story about Kate, an adventurous lesbian new to Philly.  Make sure you read previous versions of STL 2 PHL before you read the new one!

 

Photo by Jamielee Kircher of Dackel Photography

www.dackelphotography.com

  

 

 

Recreating Kate, Vol. 1

After an exhausting day of unpacking, organizing and decorating, Kate laid on the scratchy beige carpet in her new one-room apartment. Her animal friends were lined up in single-file looking at her. From left to right and standing at attention were Bob the dog, Teddy B., the nameless stuffed lizard and Sandy Bear.“I need a nap!” she said to them. She scooted a pillow under her head and closed her eyes. Outside, it was getting dark and she could hear the shouts and laughter of the twenty-somethings walking the streets, roaming from bar to bar as she and her friends had done so many times. As she thought of those days, now seeming like distant memories, she let out a heavy breath and whimpered softly. A tear fell onto her blue pillowcase and she quickly wiped her eye. She had cried so much in the past week, she wondered how much a person could cry before becoming critically dehydrated.

“Crying was not part of this evening’s agenda,” she sternly said to herself. Not that there was an agenda…the thought finished in her head. She wiped her other eye as a straggler poked its way out of her tear duct. As Kate pushed herself to her knees, she realized that crying would be the only item on the evening’s agenda if she didn’t get out of the apartment and try to make a new friend.“It’ll be fun, right?” she asked Sandy Bear. Sandy just continued to stare at her with her googly eyes and sewn-on smile. Kate was used to Sandy’s quiet disposition. “I’m glad you agree,” she said with a smile, and headed to the bathroom to get ready for her first night out in her new city. -Jenny Dugger

Question for the reader: If you ran into a person who had just moved here and was out and about on their first night out in the new city of Philly, what nightlife spots would you recommend?