It was a dreary winter day as the elderly man tried to concentrate on what he was reading, puzzling over the words on the page. The light coming thru the blind shone on him showing the wear on his face and the fade of his jeans. He felt a rumble and then heard a pound explosion coming from the direction of the far away away train station. He guessed that one of the gas tanks that they stored near the train station had exploded. He heard the sound of the fire engine coming near and realized it was possible he might be forced to leave. He got up. He was astonished when he stooped down to pick up his cat and it leaped into his arm. He walked over to the closet where he he had a bag filled with any provisions he would need if he had to leave. The day’s excitement had already been a bit much for him so he sat back down adjusting the cat in his arms as he did. He had led a rather pedestrian life once he had avoided capture by masked men while crossing the border. At least he remembered them being masked, his memory had become a bit foggy lately. He sat waiting for someone to call to tell him what to do. In his younger days he would have known exactly what do do, the fact that he didn’t only reinforce his dependence on others. He looked out at the sky that had filled with black smoke making it look ominous and spooky. He wanted to turn the news on to find out what was happening, but the dilemma was he knew they would only inflate the situation and make worse than it really was. He felt like he was in quite a bind, should he stay or should he leave. What would his friends say if they came here to get him and he had already left. He decided he would put a note on the door telling them where he had gone and take his bag and walk down to the coffee shop and wait for them there. #mbnov