Me and my shadow

I stood in the street at the corner of 26th and 5th in the pouring rain gesturing at unsympathetic cabbies as they zipped away all carrying passengers. After five fruitless minutes of this, I decided I was too sleepy to wait any longer. It was past my bed time and I was soaked from my workout anyway. So I began the .75 mile shuffle toward home.

As I crossed the dark, empty street I heard a womans voice say something indistinct. She seemed to be right behind me but when I turned, there was no one there. I looked all around and there wasn't a sole within 50 feet of me. Was I loosing it?

I've seen a lot of people loose it in new york. The worst is seeing individuals who still have one foot in the saine world while the other plunges into the abyss. I always feel like I should do something. But in the end, I just watch helplessly as the rest of new york shuffles past.

There was the nicely dressed man with the CD player screaming lyrics into bushes. There were the many old ladies who walked past me carrying shopping bags from upscale stores having a grand old conversation with themselves. One cocky good looking 18 year old classmate turned into a 21 year old (I suppose) schizophrenic who would gesture in strange jerky movements. Another, a very bright kid who read a lot of philosophy, stopped maintaining his hygene and dropped out of school to go live off the land in Alaska......as a vegan. And at the far end of that, the man on the subway with the paper hospital bracelet around his wrist who knew which stop he needed but was too confused to get off at the right place.

Was this my future?

A few blocks later, I heard the woman's voice again. This time I realized I could make out some of the words. "Please drive the highlighted route."