eddie

by nick nelson

i had traveled a long way down a dark road. i came to a place. it looked like some sort of diner but was not well lit. it looked small from the outside but when you went inside it seemed to have a lot of rooms. this guy was sitting alone in a booth. he looked at me and said hello. i did not recognize him but he looked like an ordinary guy, like me. i sat down and we got to talking. his name was eddie. he told me all about himself and i got to feeling i had known him all my life. suddenly, he said excuse me, and got up and went into one of the back rooms. i sipped my cup of cold black coffee and waited for him to return. i waited and waited. finally a waitress in a standard issue pink waitress dress came over to me. i am waiting for someone, i told her. you mean eddie? that’s right, eddie. i am sorry to inform you that eddie is dead. i was stunned - more than i had ever been when anybody i really knew well died. how did it happen, i asked. i have some even worse news for you, the waitress said. what is that? eddie never really existed. i woke up. it was six in the morning. i had to go to work.

henry and the window

by nick nelson

why are you looking out the window, henry? what? what kind of stupid question is that? why am i looking out the window? because looking out the window is what i do! it is what i have been doing for thirty years? what else am i going to do? i am sorry, i did not mean to upset you. whatever possessed you to ask such a question? i was reading this article in the newspaper, and i - yes? go on. it was about loneliness. it said there was an epidemic of loneliness in this country, and in the world - what has that got to do with me looking out the window? it just got me to thinking - we don’t talk much any more - no, not for about twenty-five years. do you suddenly have something to say? i thought we might just chat once in a while - about - about politics, about our favorite books - about the old days - the old days! you want to talk about the old days, after what happened to me - well, the days before that - you know what i mean, i am sorry, i did not mean to upset you. after what happened to me forty years ago. just forget i said anything. epidemic of loneliness! that is the dumbest thing i ever heard. what next - an epidemic of people not tying their shoes? it is getting on to lunchtime, henry. would you like something a little earlier than usual, it might calm you down. i do not need to be calmed down. but you can bring me a ham and cheese sandwich, if you would be so kind, and put enough mustard on it this time.