Morning came with pockets full of nickels
clouds gray with good intentions
puddles the size of small decisions
I turned the key and the engine stretched like a cat and said fine let us work

First ping was a diner that smells like salt and advice
a waitress in sneakers held two paper bags and a thermos with a dent like a moon
she said two drop offs ten minutes apart and please do not let the pancakes get lonely
We ran the route easy
she told me tips come in waves
you learn to surf or you drown
I asked what today looked like
she said spare change weather
At the last door she handed me a foil wrapped biscuit
for the driver who keeps the food warm she said
I ate half and saved half like a small promise

Next a street preacher with a cardboard sign that just said breathe
he slid in gentle and asked for the corner by the bus depot
He said he stopped preaching the loud parts years ago
now he tells people to drink water and forgive someone before noon
I told him a choir lady already gave me that assignment
He laughed and said two votes make a quorum
At the curb he paid with three dollar bills soft from pockets and a blue ribbon
tie this around anything that forgets its job he said

A lull folded itself in the seat beside me
I watched a man teach a kid to throw a paper airplane properly
they aimed for a mailbox and missed and clapped anyway
the plane learned the idea of wind and felt smarter for it

Call from a corner pharmacy
a woman in scrubs climbed in with a box of tiny socks
neon green
neon yellow
she said NICU
babies who arrived early get cold feet
volunteers knit these on Wednesdays while telling stories about dogs and weather
She did not ask me to hurry
We rode quiet
At the hospital she pressed one sock into my palm
single on purpose she said
some things arrive in halves and that is fine for a while

A guy with a bicycle wheel but no bicycle waved me down
he wore grease on his hands and hope on his face
co op please he said I am saving a frame that wants to be a comet
He told me you can true a wheel with patience and a good ear
listen for the wobble
move one spoke at a time
At the door he spun the wheel once and it made a low bell sound
He said that is almost right and I believed him

Then two tourists with a paper map they refused to fold correctly
they wanted murals and tacos and a bathroom
they said the city feels like a museum that spilled
I liked that
We played scavenger hunt for an hour
found a wall of oranges painted brighter than the sky and a taco stand run by a man who called every stranger cousin
When I dropped them they left me the map with a route drawn in highlighter and a note
repeat this on your day off and pretend you are new

A delivery driver flagged me with a box marked fragile
inside I heard the sound of glass humming
He said neon letters for a pawn shop window
the message read hope open late
He told me nights are kinder to words that crack
We carried it slow
At the shop he let me see the switch flip
light crawled through the letters like a shy animal
The g on hope blinked once and held steady
He grinned like he had rescued a star

Midday leaned warm
I parked under a palm that did not apologize for dropping needles
ate the second half of the biscuit and felt the day decide to be decent
A kid from the soccer field days knocked on the window
Meteor sticker kid
he said coach made him team captain and it felt like holding lightning in a paper cup
I told him to keep the cup steady and act like it was the plan all along
He laughed and ran off counting steps like goals

Next call came from a yoga studio that smelled like lemon and mats and the word exhale
a woman with a rolled mat asked for the courthouse
she said she was a public defender and stretching was how she remembered her bones were not a briefcase
On the way she practiced a speech about mercy that sounded like math and love at once
At the curb she handed me a rubber band
when things stack too high snap this once and start again

A teen with glitter on her cheeks and a duffel full of costumes
community center
dress rehearsal for a dance show that would happen even if nobody came
She said her number was called traffic light
red stop
yellow sway
green go like summer
The duffel squeaked with sequins
At the drop she did one quick step on the sidewalk that made the day clap in its pocket

Later I picked up a man with a toolbox and a smile that had been repaired a few times
elevator tech
he said every stuck box in town wanted to talk today
He told me fear looks the same at any floor
He also said nothing heals like motion
He fixed my window switch in four seconds and called it professional curiosity
left a bolt as a souvenir
heavy little moon of steel

The sky turned tin
shadows grew long but not mean
I took a detour through a street full of thrift stores and heard a saxophone practicing scales inside a storage unit
the notes were clumsy and brave
I slowed and let them keep up

A call from a senior center
an old woman with a chess clock and earrings shaped like anchors
She said park with real birds not the fake ones on television
We sat by a pond where ducks argued politely
She told me her husband taught her that casting a chess net is the same as grocery shopping with a list
you plan then you adapt then you laugh
She pressed the clock once
time changed hands and nobody panicked
At the center she paid with two exact dollars and a recipe card for lemon bars
I cannot bake anymore she said
someone should

Evening drifted in with the slow confidence of a marching band far away
I grabbed one more fare
a radio intern carrying a box of bumper stickers and a voice she had not learned how to trust yet
Station please she said
She asked what drivers wish callers knew
I said silence is not failure
sometimes people are just listening hard
She wrote that down like a test answer and left me a sticker that read low volume high truth

I parked by a small grocery where the cashier stacks apples like planets
counted the day
blue ribbon
single sock
wheel bell memory
highlighted map
rubber band
heavy bolt
recipe card
truth sticker
They felt like tools in a soft toolbox
each one meant for a problem you cannot name until it shows up

The wind chime tapped once
the meter blinked zero again
a kind of kindness
Spare change weather had turned into exact amounts
not rich
not empty
just the right coins in the right pocket when a machine asks please

I turned the key and let the next block decide who needed a ride
the sky agreed with a lighter shade of gray
and the city breathed like a person counting to four before speaking