A man

Dax was walking leisurely along the street. Nothing unusual, nothing new. Other people were walikng on the paralel street. There WAS something unusual and something new. But let us first describe the common part of the picture. Busy ladies and gentlemen hurrying from each side to their work-places, cars rushing by, gases, gases, a few trees trying to green around and yet more gases. The crowd seems zombie-like, oblivious of anything but time...until it reaches the unusual part of the picture- a man, lying in the street, open-eyed and motionless. What was that? Doesn't he have a job to rush to? A carrer to seek after? A family to feed and money to earn? There he is, dressed up all neat and tidy in a suit, his tie a little loosen up, indeed, but his shoes shiny. Is he a begger? NO, they do not dress in this manner. Where would a begger find money for a suit in a good condition! OK, at first they were curious and took peeks, but tried to ignore his presence. When they passed away they turned back at this puzzling figure, so tragically misplaced. His eyes were fixed at the sky, motionless, not even blinking. At last someone stopped and towering over the guy, looked straight down as if observing a dead animal on the road. It was a business woman, peerng down on him the way a dog would, with emotionless curiosity. Then she strode off. Why should she care so much about him? She's got other things to care about. Naturally- they label him "crazy" and rush off as if he is sick of an infectious disease.
The morning rush hour had passed. Dax was in a cafe. He does not work. He's qualification is being strange and out of place and my God he is a true professional in his field. The man didn't even hold the coffee cup in a regular manner when he lifted it up to drink. Dax grabbed it by the top edge instead of the ring, as if he lifted a lid. He was sitting at the bar, staring shamelessly at the people at the tables. In a lane of pale light, stealing through the shutters of the windows of this unpleasant place, sat a young lady of about 24. Her face- pale and tired as the dim light, was graced by cherry-painted lips, thin and fragile, and two deep brown eyes full to the brim with emotions. The tall, skinny figure of Dax approached her and leaned over.
" Excuse me, I'd like to shoot you. May I?"
A bizzare proposal that made her deep brown eyes want to pop out of their sockets.
"Wha..what was that?" she asked in disbelief.
"I asked can I shoot you? I'm a photographer."
"Oh..I..I'm flattered, but I must disappoint you, I am not photogenic."
" I am a good photographer."
Well, she thought, since he is not giving up that easily, why not give him a shot. "What should I do? How do you want me to sit?"
"As if you've never talked to me"

***

Linda poured coffee in her cup and drank a big gulp. It was lunch break at the office and the time to gossip and chat with colleagues. They were out on a balcony so that they may smoke. It was not allowed in the office, though nearly every-one had the habit. Stress, they said. Linda looked sleek in her meticulously ironed grey suit, her hair tight in a flawless tail. She puffed out a cloud of nicotine and who knows what else from between her lipstick-smeared lips.
" Yeah, I saw her making funny-eyes at Roger too. If that's her way of climbing up the ladder, mouth-opened, panties- down, she'll have to go." and she pressed the cigarette, twisting it, in an ashtray in the shape of a heart.
" Honestly, you're brain is sick! It's plain to see she's too childish to contemplate such a thing. The idiot is acting girly all around the office."
"That's exactly why she's doing it, for attaining the common affection, especially his. It is all a pose! Or even if Susan really is so childish and naive it will be even easier for some-one like Roger to get her to spread out for him. Just for the pleasure and the abuse."
"This conversation has gotten too ugly" said a co-worker disgusted. " Haven't anything else to talk about?"
"Well, Jeffree, if you so much insist on it, I saw a very baffling thing today."- confronted Linda, kind of sulkily.
" Hah, what was it? A cat on a tin roof talking to a birdie?"
"I can't understand who ever lied to you you had a sense of humor, neither can i think why in Hell did you believe him. I saw a man who was lying in the street motionless. Like a frozen popcycle, not even his eyes moving, he didn't even twitch and I watched him for over a minute. He wore a suit just like yours and held a brief-case in his right arm."
" Well, it was not me , I can assure you. I don't know why you care so much about that man. I see nothing so interesting, another nut cut loose on the streets. You should be glad you're in one piece."
" C'mon Jeffree, we are waiting for your righteous judgement to tell us we accuse an innocent man." snaped Linda, obviously she found him a weak pest. Or was annoyed by him exhibit of moral sense since she had abandoned hers.
" Actually you are! But I assume it's pointless to argue. Where did you see him?"
"Just a couple of block away from here. He seemed like a regular person, honestly. Like a stiff regular person, but still.."
" Hey, chatterboxes! Break is over, get your sweet asses here and start working!"
It has crossed my mind many times, the same question- why do people assume screaming and barking create good working environment? Maybe they find it motivating, but I suppose it is because it's easier to vent bad emotions in the worst way, than absorb them or dispose of them by other means. Suddenly you find everybody intense and ready to scream. Linda thought of that man in the street- he seemed in a suffering equilibrium, no intensity, no anger. She sighed and started at her work once more..with little feeling.

***

"Whatever made you look so miserable?" another storming question out of nowhere. Dax enjoyed startling people like that, they were usually unable to lie due to the sudden attack on their privacy.
" I...I..well, I try to blame it on some definite problem, but maybe sometimes just inside of me a voice whispers of a great pain, accumulated over time, time that has passed and time that is yet to come..Jesus I sound like a friggin nut!"
"You sound truthful, from the soul, ya know" and he winked at her. From his long, dark hair he pulled out in the light a dreadlock and started twisting it. It had an ivory ring around it. "Thank you for the photos, I pay your bill now and we stroll out until you dream again. Is that a deal?"
"You are a strange man, frankly, i don't know if I should trust you or be scared, and even more frankly, I positively don't need to dream again."
"You don't like to get dreamy?"
"No, and I don't like out of this world conversations. In your view I might be quite a tiresome person. I just feel real and down to Earth."
"You are right- down to Earth ain't fun."
And she was eager to shoot a harsh and realistic reply at him, but she swallowed it. This bizzare man- life seemed a game to him. To her judgement he was about 30, still with the dreadlocks and a childish easy-going point of view.
"Hey! Where are you actually taking me?"
" Well...to some interesting places. I think they can shake you."
In the grey day I really wasn't in a mood for such spiritual experiences and games.
[notes:he takes her to a shelter for orphans, then for homeless. the man in the street is important.]
unfinished