The Vagaries of Life

This is just an experiment at a short story which I've never tried before. I do not know its beginnings or end!! I just wrote the first thing that came into my head, ie., it wasn't planned. I just wanted to see the problems a writer faces, even with a short story. I will mention these at the end if I ever reach it! I can only try.

The Vagaries of Life

Chapter 1

This was it! I was about to start out on a journey - a journey, the how and where it would end, I didn't know. I looked back for one last time before I closed the door gently, and walked out into the cold,
night air. I travelled lightly save for the 'baggage' which weighed upon my mind. All I carried was a hold-all which contained, amongst other small items, two heavy blankets. I wore my casual clothes. My suit, shirt and tie were neatly hanging in the wardrobe of the house I'd just left - the house that had been my home for three years. I would have no use for such finery now. In my pockets I carried a few coins, an ID card and my mobile phone which would soon become a useless accessory. I looked at the door key in my hand and was about to throw it away. No, I told myself. I would keep it. It would remind me from where I had started and how far I'd progressed, if it was progression you'd call it.

I was a brave man, or so I thought. This I kept telling myself. Little did I know at this moment in my life what the future would hold. How many of us do?

It was quite late on - 11 0'clock to be precise, as I looked at my watch. The streets of the town were largely deserted. The odd drunk would stagger past me. Where were they going, I wondered. Had they a family, someone to love them? Or were they just like me at this moment - wandering around with no particular place to go. Questions like these were running through my mind, as the the coldness of the night reminded me of my situation - that I was growing tired and weary and needing to bed down for the night. As I walked on, a cat sprang out from an alleyway. Each of us had frightened the other, as we went our separate ways.