100 WORDS

Coffee For One

Thrifty Words 100 #14: Introverted

The line stretches across the store, out the door, onto the sidewalk. Coffee keeps the consumer engine turning. Everybody needs it, and now!

I hang back, the crowd overwhelming.

All I want is an espresso and a sugar cookie, but there are people.

Somebody could talk to me.

Somebody could recognize me.

All I want is coffee.

All I see are people.

Couples holding hands; moms wanting a break from their yelling kids; cops needing a shot of adrenaline before their next escapade; street kids panhandling for enough for a burger or a bottle.

So many people.

So little coffee.

This story is in response to:

Paul Mansfield is a writer, a photographer, a guitar player, a philosopher — some he does well, some not so well, but he still tries them all.

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