Local Woman Realizes Other People Exist

Does everybody know?

A local woman, drinking coffee on her patio, writing in her journal, looked up and saw a man crossing the street.

Oh my God, she thought. He exists, just like I do. She wasn’t an extraordinarily selfish woman, but she lived in her world like other people lived in theirs.

It threw her for a loop, though, seeing that man and realizing him. She put down her pen and leaned back in her chair.

Forced to take in this new information, the local woman breathed in, looked outward. The brief gush of the air conditioner starting jarred her, but it didn’t unhinge her from the man.

As she watched the man in the floppy hat cross the street, it occurred to her that he had feelings like every other person in the world. That man woke up in the morning and drank coffee. Or maybe water. What about milk? Did grownups still drink milk?

That man might cry during commercials or maybe while he listened to music. That man stood in line at the grocery store. He had a mother. He had a favorite food, a preferred beverage. When he was little, he wanted to be something when he grew up. He had a first kiss.

He had been good at school or bad at school. There was a crush he had in high school that he still thinks about sometimes. He grew up somewhere, and he still visits that place or he never wants to go back there again. Or maybe it makes no difference to him where he’s from.

He had siblings, or he was an only child. Was the oldest? The youngest? The middle? Did he blame someone, or did he take responsibility for his own life? She’d never know.

One day he woke up, like her, and realized something, like “Shit, my life is working.” Or “Shit, what happened?” And when he felt that, what did he do?

Did he put on his floppy tan hat, grab his keys, and take a walk? Did the walk help? Did it clear his head? What time did he wake up? Had he woken up at dark and waited for the sun to come up? Did he roll out of bed, put on his hat, and leave without even checking his reflection?

Did he sleep all right? Did he have nightmares? Did he toss and turn? Was he filled with regrets, gratitude, or both?

Did he see her sitting there on her patio? Did he know she was thinking about him? How could he? How often did this happen? People thinking about one another? Did it happen every day?