One smile at the stranger...and the story you hear next

One evening I was lazing around after a very tiring day. I found two messages in my phone, from the librarian who was asking me if I could return the books I’d kept with me for 3 weeks. I typed a message to him “How long are you open, I’m lazy, can you come and collect the books?”… I backspaced everything and started to type “Hey, I was just gonna return them. What a coincidence?” I backspaced all that I typed and started to type a fresh one. I wasted a bunch of time doing that. Although in the end I didn’t text him anything. I thought it was a good idea to return the books I been reading since three weeks and stop being the worlds worst procrastinator. I also imagined how the librarian would give me those looks when I go there. He usually never smiles. Maybe he never smiled ever in his whole life? Or maybe he's a gay? :| When I say “Hi, any new books?” he looks at me says “Hi” with a straight face. Oh okay serious boy, continue that. I’ll show my straight face too. I reached the library and looked at him with a straight face, placed the books on the desk and he asked me the code. My library card has this damn code I’ll have to tell him each time I return the books, he took the books and I paid him off the (whatever) amount I had to. He thanked me and I took a tour inside the library to check out for something very interesting. He then called out my name, and apologized for texting me about returning the books. I said, Oh no it’s fine. My fault I kept them for too long. He said “That wasn’t long”, but I had customers who were waiting for the books and I had no extra books, I’ll give them to you next week if you want them. I was just nodding my head in disbelief that I saw him smile at me while talking. Finally he smiled, I thought smilingly. And I walked out with a book called BPO sutra (Dont judge me, its a nice book), bidding bye to him.

The librarian was looking at me while I walked out, that’s what I felt. Oh boy! Don’t give that stare I mumbled. I walked as fast as I could and when I reached my bike I placed the books on the seat and started to dig in my pockets for the keys, and I smiled at a stranger who was walking right next to my bike. He was pretty old, looked like a granddad of 15 grandchildren or more. His grey thick moustache, his cargo shorts, his cap, his Reebok Tee gave me a picture of a retired army officer. He was holding a bag of veggies. He stopped when I shot the smile. I stopped digging for the keys too. I sort of had all weird thoughts before he began talking to me. He looked at me like as if I was one of his grandkids, and said:

Stranger- Hey! Let me ask you a question!

Me – okay? *blank*

Stranger – which side do you think is the handle fixed on a coffee cup?

Me – Err, *making actions with my hand like as if I held the cup with my hand and said* RIGHT.

Stranger - *looks at me weirdly*

Me- Oh no it’s on the *tries to make actions again, this time with the left hand and said* LEFT.

Stranger- *raises one eyebrow*

Me – Oh wait no, it depends on how you hold it though? Obviously. *straight face*

Stranger – Okay? You tell me with which hand do you hold the cup usually?

Me – Right (sometimes with both the hands)

Stranger – I hold it with left, but that doesn’t give a proper answer. *shrugs*

Me- Okay I give up, what’s the answer? *curiosity was eating me up, while I already started biting nails*

Stranger- well, the handle is obviously fixed OUTSIDE the cup.

Me- Ha Ha Ha :|

Stranger- what ha ha? Ask me why?

Me- Why?

Stranger- because when the coffee is inside the cup, how can the handle be inside the cup too? *Laughs loudly, bids a bye and walks off*

Me- :| :| :| *laughs, cries, laughs, cries, straight face* Not funny sir.

I looked around before I started my bike to see if anyone around heard that oh-so-very-funny-joke too? The librarian was standing at the counter laughed and signaled that the stranger was a retard! But wait, I saw my librarian smile and laugh for the first time! Feels nice when someone really wears a smile I thought. And I rode back home.

I spotted the stranger again, the very next day, talking to a very HOT girl about something. What a retard funny man! Don’t know what story he told her too. But he seems like a good entertainer!

Stranger in a Dream...

I was sitting with my legs crossed, leaning against the soft cushions that are covered with velvet and a furry cloth. I held a book in my hand trying to puzzle out whether it was the right time to read or not. I made up my mind not to read and dropped the book down on the round table at the coffee shop, and I catch a glimpse of you entering, dressed in a dark chocolate colored formal shirt and a good fitted trousers, with the spikes in your hair lacking order and your eyes sleepy, and the neck-tie almost loosen like as if it has lost the bond of the knot. I wrap my hands around the mug and began to sip the mocha I ordered 10 minutes before you entered. My eyes focused on the cup, all though I could see you occupying the table opposite to mine. You started apologizing to someone sitting at your table, who, I hope is not your girlfriend. I looked at you several times and you never looked at me.Your smile is one of the wonderful things that God has securely placed on your face. Even though I know you appeared to be really tired and sleepy you looked ridiculously fresh when you smiled. Like, as if all the things around you, including me, are candles and each time you smile, we are all lit bright. I saw someone snapping fingers in front of my face, asking if I was alive. Oh, I forgot that I had my friend sitting right here talking persistently about some really unimportant issues and I forgot to respond to her. You are so distracting.

I was stuck in a terrible traffic, with my hair all haphazard. I was tying my hair up at the signal and looked to my right with my mouth wide opened like as though I witnessed an explosion, you were right next to me in a car, sleeping like a baby with your mouth slightly opened facing the window of the passenger seat. I wondered if you needed fresh air or pollution. Or do you feel car A/C creepy-crawls you, like I feel? Your car was gone by the time I recovered from all the questions I had in my mind, and I get to hear various kinds of ‘BLEEPS’ from the fellow riders, because I was blocking their way.

I was at the birthday party, a not so cool party ever. I look around for some good company other than sibling Company. I was left with zero options to move out, so I sank in that ancient wooden sofa’s looking at my dad, while he talks some oh-so-very-important points about the birthday boy which reminded me of orkut (social network) testionials. Hello God help. I later heard someone announced a special number, by some name don’t know who that was, but honestly when I heard about solo singing performance it made me yawn a 1000 times/sec. I decided to text my friends, keeping the phone between my legs so that the old ladies behind me don’t start grumbling. I hear the guitar was strummed chord “C” and a very familiar song was sung by someone. I text bye-bye to my friends and looked up at the person who, is actually singing my favorite song. It’s YOU again? I couldn’t recover from the shock that you were strumming chords, singing my favorite song at a 2 year olds birthday party, who was already fast asleep before you even started the song. Huh? Really? After the dinner my dad stands and talks to your family, while you smile at him respectfully and that’s when he looks around to introduce us (his family) to yours. You look at me as I walked up to you with my mom, and signaled me about the coffee shop if I’m not wrong. What the cow? You saw me too? I blinked once…twice…thrice…while I still managed to smile.

At the background I hear – where the hell are my keys! Wake up you moron and gimme the keys, I'm late for work already, yelled my sister. I woke up, gave her the keys, back in bed and I woke up, checked the time and realized that the dream was not gonna continue. All I did was ……. AAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH!!!

“The stranger in my dream was someone I know, but that stranger doesn't even know I exist.”

Did you ever dream of someone whom you saw just like twice or thrice in your dreams and that person doesn't even know you exist?! Do share.