(1)
Sleep wasn't one of those things that came easy these days. Once upon a time, when sleep had been the thing that came with exhaustion and a soft bed, it hadn't been so hard. Now, new cities always made it hard. It was something she'd picked up in traveling, that the first few weeks to adjust to the new noise or in finding places that were both safe and dry were hard. It didn't help things any that her hands had a bad habit of waking her up in the middle of the night because they hurt and needed to be run under some water to cool the burn. It didn't help that tonight, she'd been sleeping sitting up and an awful cramp had shown up in her legs either.
She'd gone through her usual routine, stretching herself out some, trying to get comfortable, to ignore the sting in her fingers and just go back to sleep, but it was in vain. Eventually she'd just decided to give in, to find somewhere to wash her hands and change into some clean(er) clothes. Today she'd gone with something simple and easy to layer under her fur lined denim jacket. Layering, she'd discovered early on, was an important trick to beating the cold and also not overheating as the day went on and she was more active.
and just start wandering around. It was much too early to find a street corner to play on, at least without it risking being a problem, and plus she'd need to save her energy for the middle of the day when it was more profitable to say the least. Ultimately, being new in town with barely a face she could put a name to, she'd just decided to go on walkabout.
She'd done this enough times now, with violin case in hand, that she knew roughly the path she'd take before she even started. Walking the circuits of highest traffic to lowest, based on what she'd seen during the day. It was arguably the best way to get the lay of a place and she reasoned she was also quite less likely to go running into someone at this time of night too. So it was that she'd stroll down main street, taking in the sights here and there, before turning right onto Central and then again on Ivy when she got the sense she was nearing the edge the place.
She made a note of the things that was out here, like the bar that still seemed to have some buzz left to it and the trailer-park that filled her with a sense of nostalgia that felt like a bear trap at this hour. She even scooted worn sneakers down the long roads that would lead her to the dump, a paltry reward for her curiosity. She'd almost passed over the second offshoot road because of it too but had decided that the extra walk before she went about finishing her loop and maybe finding something to drink was probably just what her legs needed. So there'd be a left, a slight crunch of shoes, and she'd be on her way.
If one had asked her what she expected to find, she couldn't have answered. She really didn't ever know anymore, with her goals tending to end at something to eat and somewhere to sleep. She wouldn't have said she was unhappy with these things and certainly not since landing in Repose. She'd made better money playing here than she had a lot of places and there seemed to be a willingness for people to engage that she hadn't found in a lot of her other stopovers on her way. All in all, Sadie just chose to smile at what life brought her, figuring it had to be better than the mess she'd left behind. Besides, the dull ache in her chest about it had long since been put on ignore and eyes had set forward to the person she wanted to be and...