magic

i was sitting at my usual table at joe’s. an old woman came in. ma jones, or ma smith, or ma barker, or ma whoever. one of those mas, you know what i mean. she sat down beside me. hello, she said. hello yourself, i said. do you believe in magic? she asked me. no. are you sure? is there a rabbit involved? i asked her. no, it’s not that kind of magic. then i’m not interested. actually i was not that interested even if it did involve a rabbit. all right, then, she said, i won’t bother you any more. i thought you might be interested. have a nice night, i said. she got up and left. actually it was a lousy night, cold and damp and windy. i went back to just sitting at my table. nobody else bothered me until joe closed up the place.