Meet Someone You Know, Years Later

This exercise was generously suggested by Kate. Thanks, Kate! Note that the name of the person in the exercise has been changed, although it is inspired by a real person.

“My God! Ernest?” I was just then walking down an aisle at the supermarket, pushing my cart slowly, kind of eyeing the canned tomatoes, when I had looked up and seen this other man doing the same. He pulled his attention to me, his look fixed, as though I needed to be decided on. “Adam: it’s me, Adam.”

His face believed into a bright smile: “You freaking bastard! What the hell are you doing here?”

I smiled, too; I had already been smiling. “Well” – thinking that his manner of expression hadn’t really changed – “I guess I’m grocery shopping.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“This is pretty freaky.”

“Do you live around here? I live over on Myrtle.”

“Oh my God – since when? I’ve been living on Blue Oak for like five years.”

“Get outta here.” He thought for a moment and said, “You know, now that we’re seventy freaking years old, maybe we should just play cards and drink a beer on the porch.”

“Oh good – it’ll be like playing Magic.”

“Oh shit, don’t remind me!”