Sitting on a Bench Outside

My coffee had grown cool. The night was still and for the moment I felt like the only person left in the world. Across the street a little light blinked slowly in the window of a car. the little sedan is snoring I thought bemusedly to myself.

There was a silent snap as my previous cigarette burned itself out in the ashtray and a crack, sizzle, fshh.. as I lit the next and inhaled deeply.

It doesn't make any sense, I thought, my mind back to the matter at hand. I took another swig of coffee. it was cold enough to be enjoyable again. Was it the second night or the twenty-second? I couldn't tell anymore. The clock stopped saying the time long ago. the crickets still chirped but really i wasn't sure if I believed in them anymore.

Putting my feet back on the cold concrete, I stood up from my chair. I grabbed the box of Camels, my lighter, and my mug with the stars on it. I opened the door and silently stepped inside. Gracie hopped down from the window where she had been watching me and climbed the sofa next to the door.

"Mrow?" she said.

"Hi there." I replied and I snuffed my cigarette in the ashtray next to the lamp. I climbed the stairs to my room and quietly undressed and slipped under the down quilt. I reached over and set the alarm for 8... again. "It doesn't hurt to hope, right Gracie?" I asked. She sat silent and knowing. I knew, too, when I woke it would still be dark. Still be 3 A.M. There would be ten smokes in the box again and this page would still be blank.