Fries and a Stranger To Go

Fries and a Stranger To Go

It is a Saturday and you have nothing to do, so you decide to walk down to a small convenience store for lunch and to catch up on your reading. It's usually quiet there, so it is a nice place for reading while you eat; that is, as long as you are careful not to spill your lunch on your literature. As you are walking down the street to get there only two or three cars pass. Since you are not on a particularly busy street, this is not odd. However, you still feel like something is wrong for some reason.

You walk into the store parking lot and see a few more cars parked there than usual. You walk in through the doors and to find two or three people browsing the store, one guy mopping the floor and one guy selling lunch and working the till. You look behind you at the cars in the parking lot and see that there is about six cars parked and two bikes are locked on the bike rack. They are small bikes, but you did not see any kids in the store. You are about to ask someone about it but decide not to because you are hungry.

You go order some food and buy a coffee. Sitting at a table, you sip the coffee while you are waiting for your food to be ready. You set your coffee down and realize you've forgotten your book. So, you decide to buy a newspaper and read that instead. You take it up to the till, pay the cashier and then sit down to start reading your newspaper. You pick up your coffee and start sipping it again while reading the news.

After about five minutes, someone brings you a hot dog and four orders of french fries. You are hungry, but you also want to stay for a while and fries take a while to eat. You read and eat, not really paying attention to what's happening around you. Time seems to slow and speed up randomly as you sip your coffee and eat your food. You finish your newspaper and put it back on the rack. You don't really want to go home yet, so you pick up a new paper.

You seem to be watching yourself from outside your body, but you know this is impossible. You are still sitting there, reading the paper and eating your big lunch. Every now and then you switch papers until you finish your lunch. You have read the whole rack except for the last couple pages of the one in your hands now. You finish the paper and glance at your watch.

It's been about six hours. You wonder how so much time had passed and look up, noticing that someone is sitting in the chair across from you. He looks familiar, but you can't quite remember who he is. You stare at him for a couple of minutes and he just stares right back at you. You try to talk, but discover you can't. The man smiles as he reaches across the table and put his hand on your forehead. It seems like everything is getting darker as your mind starts to slow down.

The Familiar Stranger

The last sight you comprehend is the strange man across the table, smiling at you, and their outstretched arm, not moving from its place. Your head falls to the table. An eternity seems to pass as you sit there, awake, but unable to move and barely able to think. Your eyes are the only things that move, searching. Nobody seems to notice you as the store is closed up for the night and everyone leaves. You sit there all night, unable to move or think, but for your eyes, which seem to never stop moving.

You see the moon rise and fall from the sky. As the sun appears, a feeling of pure joy seems to run through you. Your mind seems to be working again, but your body is still unmovable from its place in the chair. You know people will come soon, but you aren't sure when. You wait and wait. Nobody comes. For two more days you sit in the chair, unable to move and seeming to have been relieved of all need for food or water. You think it will never end. Your own body is a prison from which there is no escape.

A man walks through the door and looks over at the table where you sit. A concerned expression passes his face as he looks at you. It is the same person from the seeming eternity ago, the same person that sat across the table from you. He walks up to you and places his hand on your forehead. You seem to be able to move again, but the person is keeping you in the chair. Who is this person? He seems so familiar, but you have never met him in my life.

After another eternity the man's lips part and sound comes out. You do not understand, so you make a quiet grunting sound. You can't seem to remember any words. The person places his hand back on your forehead and suddenly you can remember how to talk. He opens his mouth again and ask a question. It is a fairly simple question, but the answer is so complicated in your mind. You can't seem to put it into words.

His question. His one question to you -- after making you sit there for so long -- is: "What have you learned?"

You open your mouth and stutter. Finally you say, "I have learned nothing while sitting here. Who are you, anyways?"

The man speaks again, "If you have learned nothing in these days of silence, then you are not prepared to know who I am". With that he stood up straight and walked away.

You stare after him for a minute or two, then you shake your head and slowly stand up, holding on to the chair and table for balance. Your legs get used to having weight on them again after a few minutes and you look around. The store is dark and no one is there. You look out the window. It's early morning. You decide to walk home.

You get to your front door and take your key from your pocket. You slowly unlock the door. Everything seems to be in slow motion. You open the door and step into your house. It feels like you are walking into someone else's house. It is so clean, that it feels like you never left, or more accurately, like you had left and someone had cleaned it while you were gone.

You take off your coat and shoes and walk down the hall to your bedroom. Slowly, you climb into bed and fall asleep. You dream of that person. Again he asks you what you have learned. However, this time you say, "I have learned that I must not waste my life on newspapers and big lunches."

The man smiles a little and replies, "If that's all you've learned, then you are not ready yet."

Everything then fades away into a deep, quiet black.