Exercise 3 - The Seed

Exercise 3 - First Draft
"You meet a man in a bar in a strange town. He has a cat on his lap, and he orders a cup of coffee, slowly spoons sugar into it. He strokes the cat's black fur and says, "This contact is illusory. The cat and I are separated as though by a pane of glass, because man lives in time, in successiveness, while the magical animal lives in the present, in the eternity of the instant." What do you say back to him? And he to you? What does the cat do? What happened to this man before he came into the bar?"

The Seed

I stared blankly at the old man for a moment trying to wrap my head around what he had just said.  I was failing miserably and all I could manage at the time was, "Huh?"

The old man laughed.  Not condescendingly per say, but I felt like a kid who was confused why water makes things wet.  He seemed to ponder for a moment before replying to me.  "We're so busy living in the past or future, always looking at what could have been and what should be, that we never truly see how things are right now."  His cat stretched on his lap contentedly and purred loudly as the old man rubbed its belly.

"Trying to be all deep on me Gramps?  I'm not exactly in a fit state at the moment for deep...stuff."  I took another sip of my drink, hoping he might leave it at that.

He opened his mouth as if to say something but then thought better of it and smiled.  "I'm sorry to have bothered you.  Enjoy your evening."

"You too Gramps."

I couldn't explain it, but at that moment I didn't want him to leave.  It didn't make any sense, I didn't know the old codger.  I just felt like maybe I'd missed out on something, something important that I was too inebriated to embrace.  I set the drink down and watched as the door closed behind the old man and his cat.

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The old man had stood outside the bar window for at least ten minutes before going in.  He had thought that maybe, just maybe, he'd finally found the one he sought.  "Well, if we're going to do this, then let's do this."

A half hour later he stepped out of the bar and headed off in to the night, smiling.

"The seed has been planted, Penelope.  Let's just hope it has enough time to grow."