Well Prepared

She knew she’d locked the car, but — as habit would have it —

she turned and walked back a few steps, she hit the remote

and heard the car beep. “Okay,” she thought, “ it’s on now,

I’ll lock it.” “Bleep,” went the car. She began to walk.

“What if I had locked it, and when I returned, I unlocked it.”

She walked back to the car.

Sure enough, the car was unlocked. She hit the remote,

And watched the locks slink into their slots. She walked off.

She was annoyed now. Her steps quickened, and she had that

look on her face that would stop a mad dog in its tracks at ten paces.

Thinking about how this kind of stuff always made her late,

she rounded the street corner and headed for her favorite café. She needed coffee.

The collision with the well-dressed man amounted to nothing.

Simultaneous apologies poured forth. Awkward movements left, then right,

until their bodies began to move in desired directions.

A gush of cold air whooshed through her body as she walked through a shortcut.

Her coat had come undone. Looking down, she saw there was a button missing.

“It came off when I bumped into that man,” she thought. “Yes, I felt a tug.”