Distracted

It happens almost every day: a person walks by the booth filled with Katie's art, their eyes glazed over with the surfeit of stimulation. Their eyes light on her work with surprise and delight, and, for a minute, they're present and paying attention. I can see the distractions consuming them drop away, and a real person steps forward into the driver's seat of their personality.

But only for a moment - someone bumps them, or speaks to them, or they just kind of space out, the dullness washes across their face, and they're gone.
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One year ago: City of Sound
Two years ago: Smile
Three years ago: Morning - Two (Listen)
Four years ago: Simplification

Atavistic

"Actually," I tell the downstairs neighbors, "lately I've taken to wearing earplugs to bed, because the dog wakes up in the middle of the night and tries to dig to China."

"And then goes, 'Ha!'" John adds, imitating her dry, frantic bark.

After I apologize, Ellen assures me she finds the dog's constant comment almost comforting in the middle of the night.

"Maybe it's easier to sleep knowing that somebody is awake at the edge of the fire, like, if the wolves come, Coco will save us," I say.

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One year ago: Stuff That Really Happened, Probably

Two years ago: The Familiars of the Gods

Three years ago: Morning - One (Psalm 34:8)

Four years ago: A Glimpse of Darkness

Not Much To Give

I come out of the eye doctor's exam room to the receptionist to render my co-pay. "I need to give you some money," I say cheerfully.

This makes her laugh. "You can give me all of it, if you're offering," she says with a wicked grin.
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One year ago: Bucket
Two years ago: Directions
Three years ago: A Possibly Plagiarized Dimensional Theory of Literature
Four years ago: A Glimpse of Darkness
Seven years ago: Many Changes Make for Renewal

Little Help?

"Spare a dollar?" John asks in a nasal voice from where he haunts our stoop. Despite him being almost colorless as a person, I still find him grating in a way that I'm not proud of, nor can I explain my reaction to him.

We're not really able to ask for what we want, because we don't just want a dollar, or a cigarette, or for that pretty girl to "smile,": we're hungry, or bored, or lonely, but we don't know it, or how to say it, so we can't actually help each other.

"Sorry, man," I say, like always.
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One year ago: Aspirations
Two years ago: Bodhisattva Vow
Three years ago: Self-Esteem
Four years ago: Good Job!

Trained

"I'm gonna go take a shower while you do that," Katie says.

"I always watch you do stuff to keep you company," I reply as I continue to prepare dinner for her mom.

"Yeah, come watch me do this," she says from around the corner, and when I come out, she's doing this demented dance like an old man's version of The Twist.

"Goddamn it, see how well you've got me trained?" I say, walking back to the kitchen shaking my head.
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One year ago: Heavy Feels
Two years ago: Better Without God
Three years ago: The Evening Commute - Five (Diverge)
Four years ago: Rock Star

All Joking Aside

Lou at the unemployment office fancies himself a bit of a card.

"You've only been married seven years? I've been married twenty-seven and I've got five stents in my heart to prove it: three for my wife and one for each kid."

"Actually, my family is beautiful, and I'm incredibly blessed by them," he adds humbly.
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One year ago: All In How You Carry Yourself
Two years ago: Speak Low
Three years ago: The Evening Commute - Four (Fractured Ambient)
Four years ago: Invisible Subways

Diva

He busts through the door between the subway cars like a diva taking the stage, the clattering of his crutches drowned out by the soapy music blaring from his bluetooth speaker. He sings along with the tune in Spanish and periodically shakes his cup, extracting a few grudging dollars from the commuters.

He hops down the car, singing over the music as it rises to a delirious, sentimental climax, until he reaches the next set of doors, whereupon the music abruptly stops. He passes through to the next car, rewinding the song as he goes to the exact moment he needs for the grand entrance designed specifically to wow his presumably breathlessly waiting devotees.
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One year ago: Self-Checkout
Two years ago: Tokyo Morning/Night
Three years ago: The Evening Commute - Three (Stream)
Four years ago: Do I Remember What I Saw? Or The Words I Used To Describe It?