The walk did not need a file.

My watch was charging when my friend asked whether I wanted a walk. I nearly said I needed ten minutes. Then I heard myself preparing to delay going outside until I could record going outside.

It was an ordinary consumer fitness watch, and this was an ordinary walk. I used it for training sometimes. That afternoon, I was meeting a friend who had news about her new flat.

I left it on the charger and took my keys.

We chose the route while walking.

At the first corner, she suggested a different street because she wanted to show me a house with a very small balcony. We stopped to look. Somebody had managed to fit a chair, three plants and considerable optimism onto it.

Usually I would have checked whether we were moving quickly enough to count as something. Without the watch, I listened to the explanation of how she had got her sofa through the new front door.

We bought tea and sat for a while. The sitting did not need to be paused in an app.

I remembered the conversation.

Back home, the watch had finished charging. There was no map of our route and no pace to compare with last week.

I could remember the balcony, the sofa story and the name of the person she wanted me to meet. These were the parts of the outing I had actually gone for.

I put the watch on again later. I still liked having it for some activities. I had simply discovered that it did not need to accompany every reason I had for leaving the flat.

The next time she suggested a walk, I asked whether she wanted the same route. She said no, there was another balcony. I took my keys and left the choice of street to her.