Autumn and its Effects on Man by: Bo-Elise Brummelkamp
A man approaches a booth on a train, where another, bored-looking man is already slumped against the window. [Man 1] Hey.
Man 2 looks up; with that word, musings about the inevitable decay of man are being rudely disturbed. [Man 1] Do you mind if I sit here? [Man 2] Nah man, go ahead. [Man 1] Thanks.
Man 1 puts his bag in the overhead thingy and sits down in the available window seat. He sits down like a big floppy sack of potatoes, possibly a slightly underfilled bag of rice. A silence follows while his new companion returns to his previous musings. The newcomer stares at him awkwardly, his manner also resembling a sack of potatoes (or possibly a slightly underfilled bag of rice). [Man 1] So… The weather’s getting worse isn’t it? [Man 2] I guess it is. [Man 1] Autumn indeed.
Silence. The man had never liked silence, it was too confrontational.
[Man 1] Although I suppose I don’t mind, as long as I’m inside when the storm hits. Hearing the rain crash against the window is quite nice. [Man 2] Nobody can always be inside when the storm hits. We all have to get caught in the middle of it sometime. [Man 1] True. More silence. Man 1 gets up and gets an apple out of his bag. He is only doing this for the sake of having something to do. When he bites into it, he discovers it’s rotten to the core. Now it sits on the table. It resembles everything else in his life, full of potential but ruined by his inattention. [Man 1] Rotten. [Man 2] Oh. [Man 1] Happens to me a lot. [Man 2] Oh. [Man 1] I always tell myself I’ll start eating more fruit, and then I don’t. 31