Books: An Abridged Existence (excerpt)

Sid calls Carl only once that day. He is extremely bored. Being a musician, he has nothing to do. He does not even have a band to hang out with, as was a childhood dream of his. He wonders why Carl has not answered the phone. He wants also to call Jen, but he cannot remember her phone number, or if he had ever even gotten it. He seems to remember something about a business card, and he does remember having one from someone. However, is was lost when his pants went through the laundry. The laundry does not like paper products and does mean things to them. He is somewhat disheartened because he cannot call Jen. He knows that she has nothing better to do than to do the same thing as him; which just happens to be nothing.

Sid thinks that he should look for his old roommate and make sure that he is ok. Unfortunately, Sid cannot remember his former roommate’s name. He thinks hard about it for a while, and then remembers that he did not have a roommate from the last apartment he was in. Although now he does remember that there was some guy who thought he lived there, and would always come in when completely drunk and crash on the couch. In fact, that guy must have been there so often, that Sid had only though that he had a roommate, when in fact it was just a local harmless drunk.

Sid desperately needs something to consume his time. He needs to get out of his new apartment and wander around town some. However, he does not have an answering machine. What if one of his new friends calls? How will he know they called? These questions scare him, and keep him trapped in his apartment. He has the hope that someone equally as bored will call so that he shall have a good reason to leave his cramped little quasi studio apartment.

Sid sits, paces about, and sits. Finally he decides to risk going out and missing a call. He starts walking to the door, when he thinks that he should walk out the door, and waits some more. He sits back down on a couch by the phone. Ten more minutes he waits, and no call. He thinks that as soon as he walks out the door and locks it, someone will call.

Sid stands back up, and slowly walks toward the door. He touches the handle and waits momentarily for a telephone to start ringing. He quickly throws open the door, slams it shut and puts the key in the lock and locks the door. He turns and looks down the hallway. He hears a faint ringing.