Look honey, I don't have time for this shit!" the man screams into his phone as he quickly walks down the street. He bumps into people and looks at them as if they're the ones with the problem, "You feel like giving me some sidewalk! Thanks a lot!" Getting to the corner without being beaten, the man too busy for manners sees an old bum in tattered clothes pointing at him, and laughing. A very chilling, slow laugh.
"Who the hell are you laughin at you old bastard," the man says through his Hugo sunglasses and thousand dollar suit.
"You haven't got much longer.." the bum says through missing teeth and laughter.
"You're.. you.. do what?!" the man says dumbfounded at what this man just said.
"You haven't got much longer.. Frank," the bum says no longer laughing. Now fear comes over Frank. The phone gets closed without another word being said, and the glasses come off.
"How do you know me?" Frank asks the bum. Walking closer to Frank the bum emanates a smell combination that includes cheap wine, bad breath and body odor, trash, urine, and quite possibly shit. It almost knocks him to the ground, and for some reason time slows. A dark cloud comes over them.
"The vast majority of human beings dislike and even actually dread all notions with which they are not familiar... Hence it comes about that at their first appearance innovators have generally been persecuted, and always derided as fools and madmen," the bum says clearly. As if someone had posessed his body.
"Wha.. what? What are you.." A flash hits him and he sees several weeks prior. He sees himself walking down the street and sees the same bum sitting and laughing at a man somewhat like himself. Business oriented, nice suit, and sunglasses. An asshole. Expendable human.. just like him. The bum shakes his can at the man and he spits in his direction, splattering what change he had with saliva. The plastic human laughs as he steps from the corner.. without looking. He is hit immediately by a big truck which smashes him into oblivion, and the noise of his body being hit and then crushed by the truck has women screaming and some men puking. So much for the suit.
"Time ends for everyone," the bum says straightening Frank's tie. "I hope you used yours well. Watch your head." Suddenly the man is back on the street and the bum is gone. The sun hits him in the face. Temporarily blinded he steps forward and is jerked back just as a cab misses him. The driver yells something and hits his horn, taking a hard turn around the corner. Looking around for the good samaritan he finds there's no one there. He calls his secretary and cancels his schedual for the week.
Several days pass and nothing happens. After about three weeks Frank's back to his normal horrible self. Walking down the same street he sees the bum laughing at him sitting on the ground with his back against a wall. He shakes his can at Frank.
"Look, go fuck yourself! Nothing happened, and ain't nothing gonna happen!" Frank yells at him. He clears his throat and spits. Just as he does, a glass truck looses control and hits the pole just in front of him sending a huge sheet at him. Ducking the sheet just misses him and shatters. He looks over at the bum who is still laughing and begins laughing back. "Ha! I watched my head you stinking piece of shit!" he yells at him. Just as he turns he fails to see the other glass sheet just behind him and walks right into it decapitating him. His head rolls to the other side of the glass as his lifeless body slumps to the ground.
"Not all who laugh are madmen," the bum says and laughs walking through the crowd that has gathered.
