Lulu sells a flower

Lulu headed out with Sinclair by her side trying to catch a spot of good weather. The rain had not helped business the past few weeks. When she reached her usual corner, she and Sinclair got comfortable. She had brought a fold up chair today so that her feet wouldn't get so tired from standing so long. She had also brought a blanket for Sinclair to lay. As they were setting up, an ice cream truck passed by. Why was an ice cream truck driving around in the middle of November? Who would want ice cream in this horrible weather? It continued to drive by not getting any customers just like her then turned the corner disappearing. Lulu and Sinclair sat by the corner watching as people passed by hoping that maybe one of them would stop to buy a flower. Lulu watched as the woman from the second floor approached. She didn't really want to talk to Mrs. Flogsbottom since the last time that they encountered each other Sinclair grabbed her purse and Lulu wasn't too sure if Mrs. Flogsbottom would be so happy with her since they had left on not great terms. The last encounter didn't seem to phase Mrs. Flogsbottom. She came right up to Lulu and asked to buy a flower. She immediately started telling Lulu some story, but Lulu was having a hard time keeping up since Mrs. Flogsbottom was very animated in her story telling. She kept turning her head this way and that and flinging her arms all around. Lulu wasn't able to read her lips with such animation coming from the storyteller. She caught a few words. Something about Achilles and a book. Lulu just smiled pleasantly when Mrs. Flogsbottom looked at her. She then continued to go into another story. Lulu wanted to tell her that she was deaf but Mrs. Flogsbottom was so into her story and she hated to interrupt and make her feel bad for not knowing her dilemma. So, Lulu just continued to smile. Mrs. Flogsbottom eventually wandered off and Lulu plopped back into her chair. The wind was picking up. The next block of rain was its way. So, Lulu packed up her stuff and signaled to Sinclair to head back to the apartment but Sinclair must have seen something in the park. He took off in the other direction. Sinclair had never run away from Lulu when she called. What could Sinclair have seen that would make him want to run away from her call? Lulu had no choice but to run after him. She wondered what he had seen as she chased him into the woody area.

Another Dreary Day

Lulu had yet another boring uninteresting day. Nothing of any significance had happened to her. Her job hadn't picked up. Absolutely no one wanted flowers and it looked like the job at grocery store was her last chance. Lulu looked blankly out the window. The weather was as usual crumby. It was cold, wet and dark. She could see the sleet falling in the beams of light from the street lights. People ran by on the sidewalks trying to get to where ever they were going. Suddenly Lulu felt a warm wet tongue on her arm. Sinclair was by her side and had a longingly look in his eyes. She knew that look Sinclair needed to use the facilities. So, Lulu begrudgingly got up to take Sinclair down to the patch of grass by the building. She put on a raincoat, scarf and gloves grabbed Sinclair and his leash and headed out the door. They walked slowly down the hallway to the elevator and she pressed the button. It lit up and she watched the numbers above the door come down from the tenth floor. The doors opened and an angry woman stood tapping her foot with an annoyed look on her face. She gave Lulu a half hearted smile as she and Sinclair walked on, then pressed the door close button. Lulu recognized the woman. She had seen her before in the elevator and always came down from the tenth floor. She never seemed to be in a good mood, but living in Washington Height's alone could account for that feeling. She thought that her name started with an 'm'. Marilyn, no. Martha, no. Mary, no. Mandi, well maybe that's it. Yes Mandi that's it! The elevator had reached the ground floor and the two walked out and went to the front door. Mandi went left and Lulu went right toward the grassy patch with Sinclair. She walked carefully along the sidewalk avoiding the icy patches. They reached the grass and Sinclair did his business. As he was going, Lulu looked back toward the building yearning to be back in the warmth. A black van slowly pulled up to the sidewalk by the entrance and a man got out of the passenger side. He looked nervous and young. The van pulled away and he looked back to watch it pull away than he walked into the building. Sinclair had finished and they headed back. Warm filled Lulu's body as she walked through the door. Washington Height's may be old and broken down, but at least it was warm. As Lulu walked in, the man from the van got on the elevator. Lulu walked over to the elevator just as the doors closed. She pressed the up button and watched the numbers above the door go up and stop at floor eight. They continued up to ten then eleven and then slowly came back down. Lulu and Sinclair walked onto the now empty elevator and headed to the fifth floor both ready to go to bed.

The Paper

The weather remained cloudy leaving Lulu feeling quite gloomy. The constant gray sky did not help her feelings of utter despair and failure to earn some sort of living. Flower sales had not picked up in the last couple of days and Lulu would have to look for some other means of income. It was time to pull out the classifieds and search. Lulu sat down at the table with her cup of coffee and pulled out the paper. Sinclair as usual was by her side and she slowly patted his head as she read the descriptions of different jobs in the city. So far nothing sounded all that promising. Most of the jobs required higher education or did not pay well enough. Lulu came across a job as a checkout clerk at the local grocery. It could be promising and at least it would be some sort of constant pay but Sinclair would have to wait at home for her to come home everyday. Lulu would hate to leave her best friend and only friend at home all day. They are so close and she did not know if she could part with him for such a long time. She did not know if he could part with her. They had been together every second of the day since she adopted him six years ago. They were never apart and lived off each other's company. Still Lulu needed the money desperately so she decided to check out the job. She would drop by an application later that day, after she had finished selling flowers by the park. Lulu folded the paper and put her empty mug in the sink. She then grabbed the flowers for today and called to Sinclair. As she was heading out the door, she remembered the boy that she had seen in the park the day before. He seemed to be homeless and all alone. Even though money was tight, Lulu could spare a loaf of bread for the boy. She walked back to the pantry and pulled out the loaf then headed toward the door to start th gloomy day. Nothing seemed to be looking up for Lulu.