loonies of the town

The coffee aroma was strong. Soaking it all in, I felt pleasured by the fragrance. I could see a steady increase in the number of people walking in for their regular shot of caffeine.  I watched the crowd surge through a busy intersection, an occasional splash of vibrant color in an otherwise dour mix of grey and blue of the wallstreet hue.
 
I saw a brown umbrella bobbing through the crowd and heading to the cafĂ©. It struck me odd.  A Londoner with his penchant for umbrella was the only inference I could summon. A pleasant face with eyes lost in thought.  Sitting opposite to me, he dished out a dog eared book. And spent enough time straightening it out, only to shove it back into a cramped bag. Odd again. He seemed to be talking to someone. Scanning the room, I realized there was no intended recipient for his monologue.  With the markets on a downturn, it was not out of ordinary to watch young bankers looking dazed and talking to themselves.  He got up and curtsied to a lady who wore a puzzled look at this unsolicited gesture.
 
Curiosity got better of me and I leaned in to listen to his continuing jabber. ‘Life is not an absolute. What we see is a projection of our reality. I am as alive to one as I am dead to another’. Was he a preacher?. His attire did not give any cues. And the words grew heavier as I listened. ‘We listen to words and infer based on our collective human knowledge. What if I was shorn of the premise of humanity, How do I receive the text of something?’ . This is when I paused, now this seemed incoherent and rambling. Was not worth my time.
Drowning the last bit of the coffee, I darted to the exit.  I saw the man get up and follow me. This was slightly disconcerting. The man was neither physically challenging or intimidating, yet something about him made me wary.  Standing next to me the pavement, I could hear him speak. ‘Time for reality to merge, time for you to be aware’.
 
The car ahead of me skidded to a halt unsuccessfully. The dodgy man had grabbed a woman next to him and pushed her to an oncoming car. I could see the woman careening off the bonnet only to hit another car. It was gory. As gory as it could be. I lunged and grabbed the guy. I guess I was shouting ‘I grabbed him, I got him pinned’.
 
I could hear the growing cacophony of the police siren and lot of arms keeping me pinned. Dazed as I was, I was trying to control the flailing man. I heard the bystanders shout ‘ Hold him tight, he is crazy, he was talking to himself!’.  I tried hard only to feel others pinning me down further. There was a real urge to lash out at others for doing a shoddy job in helping me control the thrashing guy.  I felt the cold metallic clink on my wrist. I was confused, why was I being handcuffed?. I shouted out loud,  ‘ Are you kidding me, get hold of the guy before he runs away!’. There was confusion written large over their faces. The officer pushed me down to the ground and muttered. ‘Fucking crazy day, tired of loonies of this town’. 

Comments

Popular Posts