Alessandro took his time meandering the historic streets of the Garden District, looking for the truck from PODS to arrive. Outside 2480 St. Charles Avenue, there was a mini garden with verdant trees, and a park bench for sitting after a run, of which there were many people he saw running. The trance medium and ballet dancer had just moved from Steven Terrafor's place, and had found 2480 to his liking immediately upon being its viewing from the real estate agent from Prudential.
It was his kind of neighborhood. Peaceful and laid back, with the occasional streetcar that passed by. Close to his job, and if he wanted to eat out (which was often!) there were places to go closer to Race Street, and towards downtown. The one drawback was the historical significance of the buildings that made up the Garden District and the surrounding land. Great for history buffs, terrible for mediums. The condo he moved into was fairly new. Just 5 years old.
But sitting outside he saw a runner as clear as daylight pass him and then pause. The man had a finger to the pulse in his neck, and was running in place when he asked for the time. Alexi felt his senses tell him that this was no ordinary runner. In fact, the runner was not alive. After telling him the time, the runner made to pass by, and completely faded from view. During the paranormal experience, Alexi felt a cold spot close by.
It was a sign of things to come. Cold spot on a hot day? Anyone else would have welcomed that. But Alexi allowed himself to see images of the man, and what he saw made the young Italian clutch at his own heart, as he felt the pressing, crushing sensation of a heart attack, felt himself fall to the sidewalk, and saw the ending of a life too soon at age 44. Images of a wife and children, fade to white. A brilliant light settled nearby, touching him as he sat on the bench coming out of the trance. "Thank you, kind Sir. I'm leaving now," said the runner.
Alexi nodded his head, staring at the brilliant spirit that once was the runner. A journey to the other side waited for him, thanks to Alexi, who made a doorway for the man to pass through and travel safely to where his family awaited him. You see...the runner had a family, wife and two kids. He was thinking of them the day he died of a heart attack on this very street. But his wife and kids, had died long before he did. In a fiery car accident. His last years on earth were very lonely ones, so he ran to pass the time.
But who knows when their time is up? Just as Alexi closed the psychic doorway he created, so nothing else could pass, the PODS unit was deployed on the street, and the moving company he had hired could do their job to move him into his unit. Smiling at what had happened, it was just another day in the life of a medium. Who knows what tomorrow would bring him?
-- Edited by ALESSANDRO on Friday 16th of September 2011 05:11:03 PM
The last of the furniture and belongings of Alessandro's was placed inside the condo at 2480 St. Charles Ave. and since Alessandro was off for a few days to get his condo arranged to his liking and for some down time from his dance studio which was going gangbusters with all the registrations and everything. He felt very blessed to have his life in order.
He spent the first night in his new place after seeing to the stocking of his shelves and refrigerator with food at the local Rouses Supermarket down the street. That was the nice thing about being centrally located to everything. There, he picked up the staples necessary for making his life more comfortable in his condo. Night came, and so did proper rest.
The next morning, he placed an ad for the extra bedroom in Picayune-Times, to see if there was a roommate available to share the place and split the costs down the middle. Alessandro hoped he would get a call in a few days concerning that, but if he didn't get any interest it wasn't like it would break the bank either. He was doing well for himself.
Time to get out and about in the city, after breakfast. Alessandro decided to take a walk down St. Charles Avenue to where the oak trees were more abundant, the ones that survived Katrina were about a hundred years old, and their branches beckoned him to explore Magazine Street near the Audubon Zoo. He ventured inside, and paid the $13.00 fee to view the animal exhibits.
The Audubon Zoo was rated one of the top zoos in the country with a fine collection of exotic animals in natural habitats. Some of the best Alessandro viewed were the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit, Sea Lions, the World of Primates, Jaguar Jungle, the White Tigers, rhinos, the Dragon's Lair, and Monkey Hill. He took a break from walking and took pictures to send to family in Milan.
He brought his own lunch to save on the cost of the cafe at the Zoo, and sat in the cool shade of a sprawling oak tree, watching people pass by on their visit there, as well as the Insectarium, and Cool Zoo Water Park.
