I change my routines deliberately.
Not all at once. Not in ways anyone else would notice. I learned a long time ago that sudden changes draw attention. Quiet ones disappear into the noise of daily life, absorbed by the rhythm of a city that never stops moving. I let the changes blend in, small enough to look accidental, purposeful enough to test what I already suspect.
I switch routes first.
Side streets instead of main roads. Narrow paths that smell like damp concrete and old leaves. Alley cut-throughs that shave minutes off my walk but add blind corners and shadows that cling longer than they should. I stop taking the same path home two days in a row. I cross streets mid-block. I reverse directions halfway through a walk just to see who hesitates, who stutters, who adjusts.
Then I ch
