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adrw // Andrew Alexander
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Oscar

Scenes1 min read

The rattling clock at the front of the room buzzed as it struck seven o'clock. About twenty seconds later the short beep sounded over the public announcement system to signal the end of break.

He wondered again why after so many years, nobody had cared enough to align the clocks. He got up to leave, dropping his tray off by the door, and walking the dimly lit hallways back to his office in West Block 4207B. He trudged up the cold, draft ridden stairwells and past other offices where quiet work was being done.

He settled back into his monotonous job comparing writing on mail packages to criminal suspect's writing samples he had been given by the police. Package by package, letter by letter, the hours slowly drudged by.

After handing off the sorting to the next shift, he walked down the stairs out into the cold. Rain or snow, it was difficult to tell what was falling. The puddles weren't quite frozen into ice yet. So used to looking down, he continued on this favourite day of his, he loved these beautiful wet days. Reflections streamed across roads. Some wet slicks looked like a portal to the other side. Different colours bounced from patch to patch as cars went by and neon signs flashed on and off.

Enjoying the silence of his walk home, he was startled when he heard his name.

He looked up to find a beauty in the bleakness,a friend from another life. So long it had been, he stood still as the memories and emotions rolled over him. Brought back to reality by her dimples, he smiled as she spoke his name softly one last time as if reconciling all that had been and all the could be, "OSCAR".

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