The sky was cloudy gray. A breeze was blowing out of the south. Fog clung to the ground.
He was running around in 400 meter circles. Red jacket and blue shorts. His dog trotting faithfully beside. He was alone. Surrounded by silence.
The bell at the elementary school rang as he began. The school was empty. No kids. No teachers. No cars in the parking lot. The ringing rolled across the fog-covered field, where he heard it as jogged otherwise in silence.
Four laps, then a rest for a bit. The dog looking up at him wondering when they were going to start again. Then four more laps. In the fog. Under the gray sky. In the quiet. Alone out there with nothing but his dog and the wind for company.
The bell at the middle school rang as he finished. That school was empty, too. No kids. No teachers. No cars in the parking lot. The ringing rolled across the field, where he heard it as he stood there in the straight-away sweating. And the dog looked up at him wondering what was going to come next.
Time to walk back home.