ralph’s best friend had betrayed him, his rent was due, and he had no money.
he was sitting on the bed in his lonely room overlooking the harbor wondering whether he should
a) take to the highway and become a wandering minstrel
b) commit suicide
c) invent a secret weapon to threaten the world with annihilation
d) go out in the street and panhandle
when he heard a knock on the door.
who can that be? he wondered. his best friend had betrayed and abandoned him, his other friends had all forgotten him, and the building superintendent would not be demanding the rent until ten o’clock the next morning.
with a strange dreamy expression on his face ralph got up off the bed and opened the door.
it was his childhood friend, a man he had never seen before.
ralph thought his old dog, blue, whom he remembered very well, might be with him, but he looked past the man out into the corridor and their was no sign of blue or any other dog.
may i come in? the man asked politely.
but before ralph could answer, the man entered the room . ralph closed the door behind them.
the childhood friend was not wearing a hat, otherwise he would thrown his hat on the bed.
may i ask you a few questions? the childhood friend asked. he took a tablet out from under his gray raincoat.
yes, ralph replied, but first how would you like to buy me a sausage egg and cheese and a chocolate smoothie? i have no money and i have not eaten in two days.
orpheus was underground for three days, the friend said, and in any case is it not a bit late for a sausage egg and cheese?
no, said ralph, there is a place on the corner where you can get them 24 hours a day.
well, i will buy you one out of the kindness of my heart but you must choose between the sandwich and the chocolate smoothie because i will not buy you both, hungry as you may be.
i will have the sandwich, said ralph. i will get a glass of water with it, he added with a wistful sigh.
ralph put his hat on and he and the childhood friend made their way to the cafeteria on the corner.
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