Dandon

It’s a warm sunny day and I’m riding my bike along the sidewalk of one of my city’s main streets toward downtown. I keep almost colliding with people, doors that swing open, etc., and I consider riding on the street since that’s what bylaw says you’re supposed to do anyways, but I very much prefer the sidewalk and I notice multiple riders doing the same ahead of me so I decide to keep on doing what I’m doing.

I end up in an unfamiliar clearing, and I think it’s rare to find myself somewhere I don’t recognize in this part of town. There is long yellow grass, sparse clusters of trees, and slight hills that partially enclose the space. Directly across from me is a mound that reminds me of a pingo, with people walking across it single file to the other side. I wonder what is over there and consider joining them, but they seem to be some sort of tour group and it might be awkward. Based on my general sense of location, I imagine what might be on the other side and conclude that is likely just a field that I have seen countless times while passing on the highway.

Somehow I end up in the house of someone I don’t know. Not wanting to make it obvious that I’m intruding by leaving right away, I decide to stay a little while and pretend like I’m supposed to be there. I see a guy named Ronan who I’ve talked to a few times but who doesn’t seem to recognize me, but I casually talk to him anyways, then make myself at home by pouring myself a glass of water and using the washroom. Then I sit down at a table with a few others and we all chat and play board games.

It turns out the house belongs to Ronan’s parents, and his mother offers me a bicycle helmet, saying she had noticed that I had ridden here without one. I don’t want to accept it because I prefer to ride without one, but it is of exceptional high quality, so I concede after all.

Eventually enough time has passed that I feel I can leave without it seeming strange. I get up and head for the front door, but just as I’m about to open it someone asks me who I know there. I say I’m friends with Ronan, who has left the room at this point. Everyone seems skeptical. I’m asked how I know him, so I try to keep things vague by saying “I actually know him through a couple different sources.” I’m asked if it’s through people from Westsyde, and I say “Sort of. They’re not from Westsyde, but they live there now.” Ronan re-enters, and I quickly leave the house before I can be questioned further.

Outside, I go to board my bike but realize I still have the helmet with me. I don’t want to take it knowing that I have obtained it under deceptive circumstances, but at the same time I don’t want to return to the house knowing that my lie has likely been found out. I can’t decide what to do.