I have a ticket to a movie at the film festival and Naomi decides to go too. She goes outside to smoke, while I shut down my PC. I stroll out onto the sidewalk, catch a glimpse of someone on the periphery and turn my head with a, ready to go?, look. I’m expecting Naomi, but it’s my neighbor Darien, heading inside. I plant my feet in the sidewalk and turn my head in both directions, trying to spot Naomi.
“How’s it going?”
“Good,” I crane my neck to look behind Darien.
“Where you headed?” He steps into the doorway and finds his keys.
“I’m going to see a movie.” I step closer to the curb and try to look around the corner of the building to see if she’s in front of the other entrance. But I’d need x-ray vision.
“What are you going to see.”
I’m not prepared to give the title and then rattle off a synopsis – so I answer vaguely, “A documentary at the film festival.”
“You going alone?” This is usually the case when we pass each other here.
At this point I must be spinning around in circles and looking up in the sky to see if she’s hovering above us. “No, I expected, . . . I’m looking . . . for my friend . . .”
I can see into Darien’s mind at this point: “Ah yes, his friend.” That’s what I’d be thinking anyway.
Just then, Naomi steps out from amongst the cars parked across the street.
“There she is. See you later, Darien.”
Regarding the 14th:
You were probably disappointed, right?
Well no, Flag Day has been quite satisfying. Thanks for asking.
Oh, I guess you’re referring to the oblique entry from this morning which stands alone without comment. It’s a story, “I stood there waiting . . .” and that’s it.
But tell me – what do you think of movies & looking for people on sidewalks? That’s what I want to know.
Actually I had a story quite like that today. One of those weird moments when 2 near-strangers share the same thought when passing on a street. Look for it on my website very soon… I would now like to deflect the hype I just put on a very boring anecdote.