I sit silently at a table in the corner waiting for my coffee to cool down so I can gulp away. The cafe is eerily silent save the sound of rain pounding against the front window. Consuela hums melodically while she wipes away bits of lettuce and chopped tomatoes from the counter before turning to fill up the different bins with cooked beef and chicken.
Jim mops quietly in the corner, sweeping the water from one side of the room to the other. The strong stench of pine seamlessly erases the muddy footprints of a hungry customer who was just here.
I watch the steam rise from my coffee cup and am interrupted by Consuela plunking herself down across from me. "Mia, why iz yers so quiets?" she asks and puts her plump little hand on my own to offer some comfort. I notice she's wearing a silver Tiffany bracelet and realize that I also have one exactly like it.
"Where'd you get the bracelet?" I ask her suspiciously as I take my first sip of coffee. My first reaction is that she swiped it from my dresser -- but I could be wrong. I instill three seconds of grace before I jump to any conclusions.
"I iz buys dis last weeks!" she squeals and dangles it in front of me to show it off. "I iz buys it cuz yers has da same one!" she tells me with a big smile, and so I let the accusation evaporate as I concentrate on more pressing matters.
"Cool," I tell her as I readjust in my chair and sip away.
"Mia, yers iz looking so tireds!" she tells me before playfully slapping my cheek. The door chime rings and a woman in a trench coat enters and shakes herself like a wet dog before heading to the counter. Consuela greets her and tells her to try the fish tacos as they come with fries and a drink. The woman agrees.
I gaze haphazardly through the rain streaked front window into the street. I sit like a hungry crocodile next to a river, waiting for my prey to present itself.
But there's nothing. Not an interesting character walks by and so, for the moment I am forced to drink my coffee and ransack my brain for possible next steps. I watch the woman in the wet trench coat collect her food and pay Consuela. I watch for any node of inspiration that could allow me to continue where I've left off.
But today there is nothing. Nada. Niente.
Just a blah boring day set against the grey backdrop of a damp and dreary city. A city normally flush with inspiration, rescinds today -- leaving me to the quiet whispers of my mind. Whispers that offer nary a passage to the answer that might rescue me from my momentary lapse.
And just when I think that nothing will transpire -- Jim offers me much needed salvation.
"Achoo!" he says as he inadvertently knocks over the bucket with dirty water. I watch as the water slinks and slithers ominously along the floor towards my feet.
"Gesundheit!" I say with excitement. I get up and carefully step over the water to reach for the good paper towels. As I do so, the whispers return -- breathing purpose and inspiration back into the folds of my mind, and igniting currents of possibilities for what is to happen next.
