Everything All at Once, Again

            Tony tried to be quiet so he wouldn’t wake up this strange woman he woke up next to.  He slowly moved his legs over and carefully slid off the bed and stood up. He rubbed his morning chin stubble and wondered where his shoes were. He looked down and also wondered where his pants were. He looked over at the sleeping woman and tried to remember her name. A cat wondered into the bedroom and stared at him.

            Jenny stood on the corner trying to hail a taxi. She had a birthday present for her friend Mary in her arms and a shopping bag filled with wine and exotic cheeses from her trip to France. Her designer coat was just not the right thing to wear for hailing a cab and she just couldn’t get her arm up high enough to get noticed. The high heels were starting to hurt her feet and she felt the weight of the present, an espresso maker, and the big bag of wine and cheese. Cab after cab passed her without stopping and she started to get teary-eyed. “Why does this always happen to me”, she bemoaned.

            Randall made the kids breakfast for the first time in two years. He finally had taken a day off from work to spend time with them. He was hoping they would enjoy the eggs and French toast and pancakes he’d made special. He’d gotten up extra early to cook and was eager to see the smiling faces of his son and daughter. “Breakfast is ready”, he called upstairs. And his two children trudged toward the kitchen. He daughter Gertrude was already on her cell phone, texting away, never even looking up at her father. Randall’s son, Brian, didn’t bother to brush his hair out his face as he sat at the kitchen table. They ate in silence.

            Horace looked out his flop house window at the street below. He considered the possibility that everyone was now an alien looking to drink the precious fluid surrounding his brain. The cigarette between his fingers burned down to his knuckles but he didn’t notice. He scratched his belly and picked the lint from his navel and flicked it to the carpet. He had to get the word out and this week he was sure his newsletter would be noticed by the Pentagon.

            Melanie hung up the phone and finished the siding order form. She placed it in the out box for George to see when he arrived. She signed the “i” in her name with a little heart over it so George would notice and remember that night they finally had sex. She couldn’t get over how strong and sexy it was when he finally kissed her and pressed up against her. They had sex on his desk and Melanie wanted to do it again and again. She felt a little bad looking at the picture of George’s wife and children as she had an orgasm. “If George’s wife won’t treat him well, then I will”, smiled Melanie as she imagined a romantic night by some fireplace with George.

            Karen made her way through the store mentally checking items off her shopping list. Baby Kenny was still sleeping in the baby seat of the shopping cart for now and it was a wonderful moment of peace. The child was driving Karen insane with his constant crying and screaming and pooping and spit-up. Karen was not cut out to be a mother. She didn’t think she wanted kids until Terry convinced her it would be the best thing for them. Then he left her when she was 8 months pregnant. She looked at an advertisement for yogurt and the skinny model enjoying a spoonful. She felt something snap and she started throwing the yogurt out into the aisle and laughing. The baby woke up and started wailing and Karen couldn’t stop herself.

            Ted stopped at the red light and looked out the left side window. His mind was off in thought about the upcoming sales meeting. He absently chewed on a hangnail on his pinky finger. He bit too hard and too deep and pulled a chunk of skin out from along side his nail. He started to bleed. He cursed and started sucking on his pinky finger as the light turned green. “God damn hangnails”, he muttered.

            Robert held his grandfather’s hand and listened to the mechanical sounds of the ventilator forcing air into his grandfather’s tired old lungs. He tried to think of the right thing to say to this man that had been everything to him. He knew he didn’t have much time. The doctor’s said he could go at anytime and there wasn’t anything they could do. Robert squeezed his grandfather’s hand and started to open his mouth but no words made it past his lips. He closed his mouth and felt the searing tears start welling in his eyes.

            Michael looked at the eight extremely short stories he’d written and considered them with a skeptical eye. “These don’t seem all that good”, he thought to himself. He leaned back in his office chair and thought that maybe he’d have something better later. He’d already written one story about a priest and his conflicting ideas regarding science and religion. Well, he’d written a paragraph about it at least. He sighed and re-read what he’d written and wondered how right he was about all these little short stories and how much of it was possible and actually happening in the world, all at once.