Bryant Park
Carmel bites down on her ballpoint pen, cracking the purple cap, and scowls at her crossword puzzle. Sultan who captured Jerusalem in 1187. She looks up and surveys Bryant Park. Hints of green dapple the brown trees, a small crowd gathers around the Wafels and Dinges food cart, early signs of life returning to the trees and to the city. Floating along with the cacophony of cars and rap music and shouting is a voice chanting to the melody of “Frere Jacques.” The singer, whose voice is strong and resonant, replaces the lyrics with, “Put your mask on. Put your mask on. Don’t be rude. Don’t be rude.” Carmel scans the park for the source of the singing and smiles at the young woman with long braids, dressed and skipping like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Ordinarily, Carmel would consider such a person an annoyance. Today, though, Carmel feels comforted by this nutty return to normalcy.