Myself (part II)

We walked down the street, with me trying to hide my face in order to avoid the embarrassment of being seen with myself. I could just imagine the response of a passerby: “Look, there’s Bernie! And look! He’s with that loser, Bernie!”

We got to the train station and sat down. As rush hour was just beginning, the station started filling with people.

“Shit,” I said. “Are we in love with the same girl?”

“Probably,” I responded. “We are the same person.”

“Well, this is awkward.”

The weather was typical for an early April day. It was very nice out. Probably in the low 60’s at that early point in the day. The sky couldn’t have been less threatening. Birds were chirping.

The situation was puzzling. This person absolutely was me. Not simply similar to me, but was me. Was me in every conceivable way. Except this guy was concealing a weapon with the presumed intention of inflicting pain on himself, and I was not.

The train pulled into the station. I stood up and motioned for me to get on. I obliged. The train was full. There were no two seats next to each other. Certainly, there were no window seats open. IT was not necessary, though, that the two of me be together. I knew I wouldn’t be running away. And I knew it too. So I sat down in the first empty seat I could find, and I sat down somewhere behind me, out of eyeshot. The train began moving.