December 01, 2004

After everyone was gone he fell into a common routine starting with rising before dawn and going onto his front porch to watch the sun come up. Most days he would drink a full two cups of black coffee while he watched, but some mornings he would look down into a full cup and watch the reflection off of the top steam. After this he would walk around the neighborhood for a few hours, not stopping at the pharmacy or the newstand or bagel place – not waving at the regular joggers or people opening up shop either. The man who owned the diner waved four times in the hopes that he could grab another regular after seeing him, but did not try a fifth. He would write the rest of the morning in a long journal while sitting on a bench watching the traffic between periods. Every Friday he would go the market and stock up on coffee and wine and he would throw out the full journal on his way out and turn the corner towards his place without looking back.

December 1, 2004 04:18 PM