By the time I made it out of the church, most of the cars in the parking lot were gone. I wanted to leave, but where was there for me to go? I was currently staying with my girlfriend’s-, my late-girlfriend's family. But, I couldn’t spend another moment there, even if I wanted to. 

The guilt of her death was not the only thing weighing on my mind, but feeling angry made me feel even worse. Especially, since there were so many people saying how perfect she was, and I knew I couldn't say anything otherwise. I never felt so lost before, while still knowing where I needed to go. 

I turned around and started to walk down the street. I know I was just prolonging the inevitable, but I needed more time away. 

With my emotions in turmoil, there was no place for me to hide, but I hoped the cold air that burned my skin would distract me from it. But, it was foolish of me to think that way, since things never seem to go my way. 

It wasn’t long before something broke the silence my mind had filled. The sound of footsteps echoed from behind me as I turned around to see a man running down the road. He probably would’ve kept running if he hadn’t tripped over the raised cracks in the road. The man gasped for air as he looked up in fear only for instant relief to cover his face when he met my gaze. 

“I thought- I would never- catch up to you.” He gasped in between words. He grabbed his knees, while his legs shook. For a moment I thought he might fall down again so I walked over to him with my hand held out. He immediately grabbed it, finally steading himself. “Thank you so much, friend.” He said with a smile, while shaking the hand that he was already holding. 

“I’m sorry I don’t believe we have ever met.” I said with confusion practically written all over my face. The old man chuckled to himself, “I don’t believe so either, so it's a good thing that I caught up to you.”

“Why do you call me ‘friend’ even though we’ve never met before?” I blurted out. I couldn’t believe such a childish thing would come out of my mouth. 

“On the contrary, we have met now so why couldn’t we be friends?” The old man grinned ear to ear like a child. He took a couple steps forward and looked back at me, “Well, aren’t we taking a walk, my friend?”

I was stunned to say the least, but I still jogged a little bit to catch up to him. For someone who had just been out of breath, he sure walked at a fast pace.