Stranger

Peter sat in a cafe drinking his coffee when a woman suddenly sat beside him and told him all her secrets. The way she didn’t like it when her husband folded the sheets wrong or when he kisses her on her left cheek.  She told Peter she didn’t plan on getting married. Peter sat still and looked at the woman in the eye and smiled. She kept on talking. Peter kept on smiling. She told him how she liked to smoke but her husband did not want her to, lung cancer he says. What’s up with him and death? the woman said. She took out a cigarette. Peter shared a smoke. The woman puffed a clear white smoke. She touched Peter’s hand. Peter smiled and looked her in the eyes. She sat for a moment as if to wait for something to arrive but the moment passed, she walked away without saying her name. Peter smiled and drank his coffee.

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