6th September 2011 9:18am, @ Plymouth Bus Station

I'm at the station café having my morning coffee. It's not very busy at the moment, might be due to the weather. It's pouring down so hard it could well be the Deluge out there! Two Asian girls just came in, ordered two hot chocolates, paid, got their drinks and then rushed out to catch their coach, leaving the hot chocolates untouched. The fat bus driver at the corner table commented this with: "Ah, bloody shame, innit?" to which the guy behind the counter replied: "Yeah, bit of a waste, innit?" at which point he gave the drinks to the bus driver an me. Well, thanks a lot (yay, free stuff!)! He's right: You can't throw away perfectly good food or drinks in times of economic hardship. Would be a bit of a waste, innit?

Eventually me bus arrived and I got on. At this point you might say: "Hang on, why's that guy taking a bus? Isn't he supposed to walk?" Okay, I give you that. After all, it's johnniewalker, so you could argue that the clue's in the name. That's all true, but as hiking through the 'burbs of Plymouth on a rainy day isn't that much fun, I decided to hop on a bus that would take me out of the city and to a place on the coast to join the Coast Path again. Also, johnniebusrider kinda sucks as a name.

The same day 9:18pm, @ Guest House

I was very lucky that it stopped raining once I had started with the actual walking in Looe. Mind you, the weather still wasn't great. The sky was dark grey and it was very windy. But again, luck was on my side as it was a strong easterly wind, which meant that I was virtually flying westward towards Fowey. When I reached the town I quickly popped into the Tourist Centre and was very relieved upon finding an affordable room for the night - in a guest house on a hill (I seem to always get into the ones on the hill). Still lucky, it was not a terribly hilly one; I've seen worse. After arriving there and dropping off my heavy burden, I was exhausted, hungry and thirsty and so I went down that slope again to a restaurant on the harbour. The fact that I was tired, hungry and thirsty is very important for what followed, for it was in this restaurant where I had a big shock. That was when I noticed this man. He was sitting at the other end of the small room, facing the wall; he wore a navy-blue jumper and had greyish hair combed to the side. At one point he turned around slightly and looked in my direction for a brief moment. My heart dropped a few inches when I saw his face; the small, pointy eyes and the round glasses, the smug smile and I genuinely thought: Jesus Christ, it's Mr Schwitter! It happened so fast and when I blinked and wanted to have another look, he was already facing the wall again. 'No, it cannot be possible', I said to myself. I mean, mathematically speaking, what are the chances? School has started again, there's no way he could be here. Or could he? Unfortunately he never turned around again, meaning his real identity is still a mystery. Though, it would be funny if it had been him, wouldn't it?

Keep walking…

johnniewalker