The Authentic Eclectic

Mr. Washington’s Monster

Mr. Washington left for work wearing his usual suit and tie. He walked to the subway and boarded a train, where he stood with his habitual scowl, avoiding eye contact with the other passengers. That was fine: none of them wanted to look at him, either.

Photo by Mark Basarab on Unsplash

When he got off the train, he walked up the steps and along the street until he came to his usual coffee shop. Black coffee and croissant in hand, he arrived at work precisely ten minutes early, said “good morning” to the people in his office because it was the proper thing to do, and sat down to another busy day.

No, wait. I’ve forgotten something important. Let’s back up.

First, it was raining. So you must imagine Mr. Washington carrying a black umbrella. He folded up this umbrella on the subway and its plastic tip slowly dripped water onto the floor. I don’t know if you have ever been on a subway car when everyone is wearing damp raincoats and fogging up the windows, but Mr. Washington was not a fan.

The second thing I forgot to mention is that, on the way from the coffee shop to the office, Mr. Washington met someone. To say that this was a surprise would be the understatement of understatements.

After he passed the someone, he stopped and turned back. He stared into the alley. He was…