Never Lie never Judge

She tried not to judge him. His ratty clothes and unkempt hair made him look homeless. Was he really
the next Einstein as she had been told? On the off chance it was true, she continued to try not to judge
him.

The lone lamp post of the one-street town flickered, not quite dead but definitely on its way out.
Suitcase by her side, she paid no heed to the light, the street or the town. A car was coming down the
street and with her arm outstretched and thumb in the air, she had a plan.

It seemed like it should have been so simple. There was nothing inherently difficult with getting the
project done. It was simple and straightforward enough that even a child should have been able to
complete it on time, but that wasn't the case. The deadline had arrived and the project remained
unfinished.

I've rented a car in Las Vegas and have reserved a hotel in Twentynine Palms which is just north of
Joshua Tree. We'll drive from Las Vegas through Mojave National Preserve and possibly do a short hike
on our way down. Then spend all day on Monday at Joshua Tree. We can decide the next morning if we
want to do more in Joshua Tree or Mojave before we head back.

It had been her dream for years but Dana had failed to take any action toward making it come true.
There had always been a good excuse to delay or prioritize another project. As she woke, she realized
she was once again at a crossroads. Would it be another excuse or would she finally find the courage to
pursue her dream? Dana rose and took her first step.

Things aren't going well at all with mom today. She is just a limp noodle and wants to sleep all the time. I
sure hope that things get better soon.

At that moment he had a thought that he'd never imagine he'd consider. "I could just cheat," he
thought, "and that would solve the problem." He tried to move on from the thought but it was
persistent. It didn't want to go away and, if he was honest with himself, he didn't want it to.

Sleeping in his car was never the plan but sometimes things don't work out as planned. This had been
his life for the last three months and he was just beginning to get used to it. He didn't actually enjoy it,
but he had accepted it and come to terms with it. Or at least he thought he had. All that changed when
he put the key into the ignition, turned it and the engine didn't make a sound.

The red ball sat proudly at the top of the toybox. It had been the last to be played with and anticipated it
would be the next as well. The other toys grumbled beneath. At one time each had held the spot of the
red ball, but over time they had sunk deeper and deeper into the toy box.

"It was so great to hear from you today and it was such weird timing," he said. "This is going to sound
funny and a little strange, but you were in a dream I had just a couple of days ago. I'd love to get
together and tell you about it if you're up for a cup of coffee," he continued, laying the trap he'd been
planning for years.

She was in a hurry. Not the standard hurry when you're in a rush to get someplace, but a frantic hurry.
The type of hurry where a few seconds could mean life or death. She raced down the road ignoring
speed limits and weaving between cars. She was only a few minutes away when traffic came to a dead
standstill on the road ahead.

She wondered if the note had reached him. She scolded herself for not handing it to him in person. She
trusted her friend, but so much could happen. She waited impatiently for word.

It was going to rain. The weather forecast didn't say that, but the steel plate in his hip did. He had
learned over the years to trust his hip over the weatherman. It was going to rain, so he better get
outside and prepare.

There was little doubt that the bridge was unsafe. All one had to do was look at it to know that with
certainty. Yet Bob didn't see another option. He may have been able to work one out if he had a bit of
time to think things through, but time was something he didn't have. A choice needed to be made, and
it needed to be made quickly.

She had been told time and time again that the most important steps were the first and the last. It was
something that she carried within her in everything she did, but then he showed up and disrupted
everything. He told her that she had it wrong. The first step wasn't the most important. The last step
wasn't the most important. It was the next step that was the most important.

Her mom had warned her. She had been warned time and again, but she had refused to believe her. She
had done everything right and she knew she would be rewarded for doing so with the promotion. So
when the promotion was given to her main rival, it not only stung, it threw her belief system into
disarray. It was her first big lesson in life, but not the last.