Bad Coffee

            Gerald moved his bag off the seat next to him so others could sit down. It was the directive from the overhead automatic P.A. System on all the trains. Gerald wanted to be in compliance with the robotic voice from above. He wasn’t a rock the boat type. He hoped that by moving his bag the woman of his dreams would board the train and sit down next to him. After an awkward smiling exchange they would strike up a conversation about the trains and then they’d live happily ever after.

            Gerald sat up a little straighter in his seat, hoping his good posture would elicit some positive response from the potential female riders. Plus it hid his ever growing gut. There wasn’t anything he seemed able to do about it. His belly just kept growing. He wasn’t ashamed of it but he certainly didn’t feel he had the sex appeal of those six-pack sporting muscle heads in the terrible Affliction tee-shirts. He wasn’t sure why certain girls found those shirts attractive. He could understand the whole six-pack thing though. A woman, just like a man, wants to find the best possible mate to breed with and a guy with six pack abs has a better chance than his flab-pack abs. Flab-Pack abs weren’t all that attractive, but some women appreciated their cuddling factor.

            The train wasn’t very crowded this morning and much to Gerald’s chagrin, no potential Mrs. Gerald’s ever sat next to him. The train got to Gerald’s downtown station and he disembarked. He wasn’t in a hurry this morning and decided he could stop at the little coffee place by his office building and pick up a nice, fresh cup of Hazelnut coffee, instead of that murderous breakfast blend crud in the coffee room. He smiled at the thought of a good cup of coffee to start the day with. He entered the coffee shop and stood patiently in the long line of coffee starved customers.

            The line moved a little slowly, but it was moving. Gerald started to wonder if he did have time for that special cup. He only had eight minutes to get it, pay for it and get up to the 32^nd in the building across the street. He might be cutting it a little close. But still, the allure of a good cup of coffee kept him in line. He was thinking about the exchange with the cashier, maybe he’d say something witty or maybe just play it cool and quick.

            Glass shattered outside and the line of customers turned to look behind them, toward the busy street. Gerald turned his head and looked with the rest of the customers in time to see a crowd of people start running past the windows, then more people, and shouting, and screaming. The ground started to shake and a picture fell off the coffee shop wall. Two of the in-line customers rushed toward the windows as Gerald took a step backwards toward the counter. Car alarms were blaring and Gerald could here fire trucks and sirens and horns blowing. There were more screams as the ground reverberated with a violent thud and several people went screaming past the coffee shop window. They were on fire and begging for help. Gerald took another step backwards and pressed against the counter.

            A horizontal column of fire exploded down the street and the coffee shop windows blackened and then exploded. Fire roared across the coffee shop ceiling and the coffee customers screams and fell to the ground. Gerald fell backwards over the coffee counter and ducked down next to a young barista who was praying in Spanish. Over head sprinklers came on and quickly doused the flames that licked across the ceiling and the tops of the other people in the coffee shop.

            Gerald poked his head up to eye level and looked through the heavy streams of water falling from the sprinklers. Cars and store fronts were all burning and smoldering as a giant flaming leg stepped forward in front of the coffee shop. The ground trembled and Gerald could see the flames dripping from a great height and sizzling on the sidewalk. Another leg swung into view and stepped further down the street. The building lunged and shook. The legs were molten, but solid, and clearly on fire. Gerald ducked his head back down behind the counter and suddenly knew how to pray in Spanish.