the world is full of unexplained characters
human oddities that may never be solved
made all the more surreal
an hour before that first coffee
waiting for an O-Train to get into work

a clean-cut man in his mid-twenties
unable to stand in one place
looks at me strangely
I at him the same way
both feeling the urge to say something anything
while at the same time
an instinctive voice whispers to hold back

he pulls out a cell phone
while continuing his dance
presses on the keypad seven times
stops for a moment
stares down the tracks
“hi it’s me, can you ask mom to flush my toilet, thanks”
the encounter of jig and one-sided conversation
repeated without variance in the days ahead

at some point along the way
I break the ice by mentioning the weather
he responds in the positive
though the sky is threatening cats and dogs
the tension finally lifted
a few more meetings
till the clean-cut man in his mid-twenties
doesn’t show up any more

never did find out
why he couldn’t flush his own toilet

© 2004

730 hits as of July 2024

10/04/2018

Author's Note: A true story.

Posted on 10/04/2018
Copyright © 2024 Chris Sorrenti