old man sat
old man went to walk
old man ate bread and cheese
his mind was empty
he found a good seat
he sat there
all was pandemonium at the time life building
in the lobby
nobody was being allowed into or out of the building
but all this blitzkrieg of activity was buffered from the point of origin of that which had caused all the commotion -
the ninth floor
and warner books
as this old man entered the lobby
he had the sign-in book impounded
then he rode the elevator with a crowd of police officers
- i don't want anyone on or off this floor
- that means i want every elevator
service elevator
and staircase covered
you see anything that even moves wrong
arrest it
- the only way anyone gets off this floor is jumping out the window
- let's not fuck this up
AND THE DOORS OPENED TO A PERFECTLY NORMAL-LOOKING LOBBY
THE UNIFORMS WENT WHERE THEY HAD TO GO
AND THE REMAINING THREE OFFICERS FOLLOWED THIS OLD MAN INTO THE RECEPTION AREA
OLD MAN DROPPED HIS BADGE BEFORE THE RECEPTIONIST COULD OPEN HER MOUTH
- TAKE ME TO THIS EXTENSION PLEASE
- - I CAN'T LEAVE THE...
old man shook both his index fingers at her without saying a word
pointed at her
then pointed for her to get out from behind her desk
she exited the enclosed area
took the piece of paper from this old man
- this is mrs jenkins's line
o god
she's the new editor here
- i hope she's not in any trouble...
THEY ROUNDED A FEW CORNERS
PASSED SEVERAL PARTITIONED OFFICES
AND THEN STOPPED IN FRONT OF OFFICE
- MEET YOUR NEW EDITORS
old man told all about the book he was in the process of writing
HE WAS SIMPLY IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME
AND TRYING TO MAKE A FEW EXTRA LONG-DISTANCE CALLS AT HIS PUBLISHER'S EXPENSE
and everything about him demonstrated that he was
in fact
exactly who he said he was
AND THERE HE SAT NEAR THE WINDOW
HE WAS THINKING ABOUT DETAILS IN HIS BOOK :
with uniform equanimity
everything disappears of itself
only then do you attain great effectiveness
when you come to the boundary of life and death
you calmly become absolutely still
without any further effort whatsoever
just being so
like a polar mountain -
does that not hit the mark ?
IN THAT SEAT THIS OLD MAN SAT MANY HOURS
OFFICE WAS CLOSED
BUT HE WAS SITTING AT THE SAME POSITION
THERE WAS NO END FOR HIS SITTING
HE AND THAT GOOD SEAT WERE ONE
ALL WAS SAID IN HIS BOOK
HE COULDN'T MOVE ANYMORE
AND SUDDENLY HIS BREATHING STOPPED
HE WAS DEAD
HIS BODY CAME COLDER
AND THEY FOUND HIS SMILING BODY IN THE MORNING
those police officers were only in his mind
and we never get to know what else there was in his mind
he never wrote a word
he was only thinking about everything
he didn't found his life in this life...
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