After Twenty Years by
kris1920 2014/06/01 17:32
It is approaching ten o'clock on the largely
deserted avenue in New York. A policeman works
his way up the street, carefully checking the
locked doors of the businesses that have long
since closed for the day. Suddenly, the officer of
the peace encounters a man with an unlit cigar,
standing in the doorway of a hardware store.
Congenially, the man tells the policeman that he
is waiting for a friend, whom he had agreed to
meet with at that very spot, twenty years ago
that day.
The waiting man strikes a match to light the
cigar he is holding, and in the brief flash of
illumination, the officer notes that the person
before him has "a pale, square-jawed face with
keen eyes, and a little white scar near his right
eyebrow." On his scarf is a large diamond,
indicating great wealth. The man explains that
he and the friend for whom he is waiting, his
"best chum" Jimmy Wells, had been raised in
New York like brothers; when they had grown up,
Jimmy had remained in the city, but he himself
had headed West to make his fortune. Upon
taking leave of each other, the two friends had
agreed to meet again in exactly twenty years to
the hour, "no matter what [their] conditions
might be or from what distance [they] might
have to come."
The waiting man pulls out a fancy watch,
embellished with diamonds. The officer idly
comments that he must have done "pretty well
out West," and the man responds, "You bet!" and
expresses the hope that Jimmy, whom he
remembers as having been "a kind of plodder,"
has done even half as well. He is confident that
his old friend will meet him that night if he is
alive, no matter what his circumstances may be,
because Jimmy always was "the truest,
stanchest old chap in the world."
The policeman continues on his way, and the
man in the doorway keeps vigil as a fine rain
begins to fall. After a short time, a tall character
in a long overcoat with the collar turned up to
his ears approaches and inquires hesitantly, "Is...
Kayli 2014/06/01 17:40
Is... what ?
NAASH 2014/06/01 18:46
(sleep)"'zZzz
#2
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