i play tennis. i've mentioned this many times. sadly, i do not have a court just outside my door. nor are there any decent free ones nearby. there is a park just a few minutes walk away, but the courts are sad and hardly useable. another park a few more minutes by car has very nice courts, but you must pay by the hour. the price is quite low, but as i don't know anyone who would want to pay to play, i'm out of luck.

so i normally play in the adjoining city, near an apartment complex. someone i often play with lives there, so it all works out.

after finishing late in the evening, i put on a dry shirt, disposed of empty water bottles and rather damp griptape, and packed up my things. i keep my wallet in my tennis bag when i play so that i have i.d., and because whenever i put it in my glovebox i forget it is in there. then again, i forget it in my tennis bag as well.

i took the wallet out of my bag before we started walking back to our cars, and held it along with a towel and my keys. wallets are made to go in pockets but i never put it in my pocket after getting all sweaty. it is made of leather and nothing would make it happier than to soak up some sweat and turn manky. i clicked my alarm and put my bag in the passenger seat. i don't belt it in, but i have thought about it more than once. my friend and i talked about some stuff, chinese food, bad movies, how we felt about the match, and then we parted ways. i drove home,[end to start] and that was it.

i walked through the door, set my keys down and reached where my wallet normally is, butt, right side. not normal clothes, just played tennis, oh yes, just inside my bag, the large pocket with the racquet i've been using most often lately.

not there.

check hands, pockets, bag pockets.. get the flashlight out of my trunk and search every inch of the interior of my car, even a glance in the trunk though i haven't been in there in days, let alone with wallet flying about loose.

i left it on top of my car. just like that redneck car did with it's drink at mcdonalds after leaving pointe mallard. i'd left it on top of my car, driven over nine miles, much of it on a 70mph+ interstate, and now i no longer had it.

i've lost my wallet before. about nine years ago. it came back minus the cash, but with everything else intact. not much else is important in your wallet when you are fifteen though, so i was not happy about losing the money, especially since i knew who took it. and gave me a horrible excuse on top of it.

this time there was no money, but everything in it would be a hassle to replace. my license, two insurance cards, debit card, library, red cross, student i.d., and a few other things. so i knew i had to go look. i drove slow the whole way there. turned around for an ice cream wrapper, a beer bottle, a leaf, and just about any discolored spot of pavement i came across. on the way back, i drove past something that looked like it, but so did the wrapper. i turned around and then again to pull up close to it and see. and it was there. on the side of the road, not even run over. some things had fallen out, but nothing too important. i got back out with my flashlight and looked in the grass as cars passed. faceless drivers not knowing how big of an idiot i was, though probably with a a good idea. i found everything, i think. the red cross and library cards, and the ticket stub to the last movie i saw. and that was it. i turned off my flashers, and drove home. my wallet now has a few scuff marks from where it hit the asphalt, and it is sitting in my tennis bag from when i played a few hours ago.

last week i lost something very important.., and it has nothing to do with my wallet. i wish i could use my flashlight and find everything how it was with only a scratch for wear.

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