The Stranger

I couldn’t come up with a blog post. I got up from my desk and went on a walk.

After a while I came upon someone sitting under a tree. He seemed to be in a reflective mood. I said, “Hi.” He looked at me but didn’t say anything back. I was embarrassed and said, “Oh, sorry. I was talking to the tree.”

I kept walking. Soon after I saw the same reflective person sitting under a different tree. I stopped and said, “How did you get from the other tree to this one? I didn’t see you get up.” I felt awkward again as he looked at me with the same silent eyes. I couldn’t use the same lame excuse that I was talking with the tree.

I continued walking. I walked for a while. I passed other trees, but the person wasn’t under any of them. I thought about him. Who was he? Why didn’t he say anything?

I couldn’t stand it, and walked back to the tree under which I’d last seen him. But he wasn’t there. I walked back to the previous tree. He wasn’t there either.

I was exhausted and sat under the tree. I mulled over what had happened. I looked up when someone said, “Hi.”