3/15/18
Before the light broke, Karen was up. Rumbling about in preparation for another long day. Sunrise to sunset, and often after dark, Karen never missed a day on the job. Not in 57 years.
She stretched and rolled side to side, front to back, hearing cracks and grinds as the motion wore her better parts down to the inevitable dust they’d become. She was never much for the creams or lotions, those only made it worse in Karen’s experience.
Hobbling out of her nook, Karen marveled at her walkway, it was smooth and worn down from decades of repetition. Maybe she’d fix it up one day, put new stones in. Maybe.
She arrived at work not a moment too soon. Her coworkers were already in position and the sun began to bleed over the horizon, shedding beautiful orange light over the steeples of rock above her post. She was completely bathed in its warmth by the time their first customers came through. Late for this time of year.
“Over there! Karennnnn!” the first hiker exclaimed.
The three others in tow hooted and whooped as they trundled and scraped their way towards Karen. They were fresh in the legs and didn’t come close to knocking her over, which was a blessed thing as 57 years was third best in Blank National Park.
“Oh cool, look, there’s the next Karen” said another hiker, as they all headed in the direction of Karen’s neighbor, Karen.
An excerpt from Karen: The Stone Trailhead documenting the life and times of a Cairn in Blank National Park, guiding hikers along trails of stone for miles on end without use of man-made signage.
There's Karen