“Ohmygosh,catastropheishere.JehovahisfuriousthatintrudersdaredtotrespassintotheGardenofEden.Whatshallwedo?”HepulledImaginationbythehandawoofthemranoutoftheGardenofEdenasfastastheycould,leavingtheremnantoftheunfinishedforbiddenfruitbehinduheappletree.
Astringofsoapbubblesfloatedintotheair,butsoonburstanddisappeared.Aringofbubblesappeared.Sittingattheerofthestreet,Dimitriusedhistinystrawtokeptblowingsoapbubblestowhileawaythetime.Hehadnothingtodo,ortoputitmorepreciselytherewasnothiodowithinaparticurtimeframe,whichwasequivalenttohavingnothingtodo.Withtoomuchleisuretime,hefeltithardtodispelboredom.Hedidnotknowwhattodowiththelimitlesstimeonhishandswhichseemedtospreadoutwardsinfinitely.Unlikenormalpeoplewhoalwaysfeeltheydonothaveenoughtimetodowhattheyneedorwantto,Dimitrifoundhehadmoretimethanheknewwhattodowith.TimewaslikeafloodthatpletelyinundatedhimandspreadoutwardsindefioDimitritoomuchtime,solimitlessandunending,waslikezero.Iftimewasequaltozero,thenspacedoeseither.Iftimeandspacewerebothzero,thenzeropluszerowasstillzero.Inasedorless,timeandspaceseparateandeachgoitsowndifferentway.SuddenlyDimitrifeltapanginhisheartandhemurmured,
“Timeandspaceoverpandareequaltozero.Whenwillsuchaphenomenahappen?”Hesmiledwrylyandtinued,“Iambackatmyoldtricksagain,goingoffintowildflightsoffancy.Whatisthis‘timeandspaceoverpandequaltozero’?Whathasittodowithme?”Dimitriraisedhishandandlightedsppedhischeeks.“It’sreallyjustsenselessideas…Well,oldhabitsdiehardandthisbadhabitofminemaywellremainwithmefortherestofmylife.Butthisbadhabitdoeshelpmewhileawaythelimitlesstimeonmyhands,otherwisewhatIdowithallthisleisure?”Dimitrismiledwrylyabacktohistoy.Stringafterstringofsoapbubblesfloatedintotheair.
Someoneapproached,ploppeddownbesideDimitriandelbowedhimsaying,
“Hey,olddog,areyouuptoyouroldtricksagain?Yougointoyourwildflightsoffancy,muttertoyourselfandevenspyourownfacewhileyousmilewryly.Peoplewillthinkyouaremad!”Dimitriknewfromhisvoicethatitwashisoldfriend,David,anotherhomelessvagabond.
“Howareyou,David?”heasked.“Howhaveyoubeendoing?”
“SameoldSh1T,differentday”sighedDavid.“Timesaretoughandit’sgettingharderandhardertogetby.Isgedaboutforhalfthemandonlygotthesefewcigarettebutts…Mostpeoplenowadaysthinksmokingwillcauselungdsohavequit.Alsowiththeeiturn,peoplehavenomoneyandcigarettepriceskeepgoingup,sofewerpeopleaffordtosmoke.It’sgettingmoreandmoredifficulttofindcigarettebuttsontheground.Lifeisgettingtougherandtough…Stopblowingsoapbubbles,that’skids’stuff.eon,I’llgiveyouacigarettebutt,let’ssmoke.”Sayingso,hetookoutacrumpledpieceofpaperfromhispocket,andcarefullyselectedafttenedcigarettebuttwhichhehandedovertoDimitri.Dimitritookoverthebuttandrolleditcarefullytoitsinalroundshapewithoutspillinganyofthetobaside.DavidstruckamatdlightedthecigarettebuttwhichDimitriinhaleddeeply.AllofasuddenDimitrifelthisheart-rateaccelerate;hisheadspinarounddizzilyahathisbloodpressuremustbesky-rocketing.“Cigarettesarethedevil!”hethought.TurningtoDavid,hesaid,
“Actuallysmokingisreallynoial.Ifyouhaveacigaretteonhandit’sprettysatisfyingtohaveasmoke;butifyoudon’thaveo’sokaytoo.Therereallyisospendalotoftimesgingalloverfarettebuttsfttenedbyotherpeople’sshoes.”
“That’seasyforyoutosay”answeredDavid,whohadalsotakenoutacigarettebuttforhimself.Heinhaleddeeplyandtihisstuffishabit-f.Onceyou’reindictedtoit,it’soquit.Ispendmostofthedaylookingfarettebuttstopickup.It’sokay,sinceIdon’thaveanythiodoanyway.Collegthemhasbeeadailyroutineforme.Youknow,it’snottoobadformealthoughnothavinganythingtosmokeisapain.Thealcoholiddrugaddictshaveitworse.Whentheysufferwithdrawalsymptoms,it’sinfinitelyworse…”
“Yht,it’sbestnottobeaddictedtoanything”answeredDimitrivaguely.Daviddraggedmightilyonhiscigaretterepeatedly,sugthesmokeintohislungsaitalloutuntilhiscigarettebuttwasreducedtodersandburnthisfingers.Onlythendidherelutlythrowittotheroadsideadieoutonitsown.SuddenlyDavidthoughtofsomethingandasked,
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