• Indignantly I threw down the phone, careful to startle the fly buzzing erratically in my field of vision. I leaned back slowly, putting my hands to my head, letting my fingers channel small grooves in my unkempt hair. Without pleasure I let my mind wander back to review our conversation in my usual fashion.

    "I'm sorry John, but I can't let you have the Summers job! You'll just have to stay here. Believe me, you're doing fine."
    "Nathan I'm a veteran! You can't just let some young kid run in and screw things up."
    "Those young kids have consistently beat your earning for the last six months."
    "Well maybe I'm not making any money cause you won't give me any jobs. I don't have any way get money without jobs. I can't just charm the wallets out of these tourists like the young guys can."
    "Well maybe that's the reason why you're not getting any set ups." Nathan paused waiting for a reaction which never came.
    "Look, I'm not gonna give you pity. Work with what you've got and if you're still interested we'll talk next month." The ear piece clicked.

    I exhale slowly, rise from the laminated green chair, and walk painfully to the bathroom. The looming yellow haze highlights my lack of windows as I splash water on my face and turn to the mirror. A depleted dim face peers back, the weight of age pulling my once crisp features into strange manipulated positions. Examining closely the wrinkles around my eyes I notice the shocking intensity my blue eyes still show. I remember back as a young man seeing the same thing, in the mirror I can see my face juxtaposed over this new sagging mask.

    Quickly I bridle this bizarre image and step into the adjoining room. Barely lit from the fading bulbs in the bathroom I cross the entry way and open the door, slowly but confidently, following the mental conduit formed by thousands of repetitions of this very journey. As the door closes with a start I turn out towards the Park and see a stray leaflet guide itself into a previously formed assortment of similar items. I contemplate the litter in the curb like a deteriorated, overused deck of cards, my mind though is still regarding a different incident. Shaking off the phantasm I encountered in the mirror I let my feet guide me through the dark haze of the night to the incandescent porthole floating in the distance.

    "What are you doing out this time of night Johnny?"
    "It's lovely to see you too Amy."
    "Well I don't have any money, and there's no one out here to scam this time of night." Amy asserted to the background of a woeful grinding by the elderly Ferris Wheel.
    "Not that you would actually get any money." She threw in sideways, just as my lips were curving to a smile.
    I immediately forgot my sarcastic retort and frowned. Letting my face thicken like mud I answered,
    "It's lovely to see you too Amy." Spitting the words.
    "I'm only speaking the truth, John, I'm afraid you're losing your touch."

    Hearing the absolute sincerity in her last words I turn and stumble away into the darkness. In the quiet glow of half light that always exists in the Park I again think back to the bathroom. I thrust this image deep into the recesses of my mind and stare out towards the road. The dilapidated sign gawks blankly at me like the face of a broken clock, almost comical. Almost...

    Wistfully I gaze back to when I first saw this sign. Its vibrant red almost overpowering me. I remember the way the world treated me before my handicap of age. I was a bright star to Nathan, he saw the way I cultivated trust in the masses. I could sway crowds with my beautiful passionate face. And again, I see myself now, sad and decrepit, barely picking pockets of overly trusting children.

    I can't do it anymore.
    Nathan will back me up.
    He knows as well as I do that I'm intelligent enough to succeed.
    Roberts offer makes so much more sense now.

    I walk gruffly back to the kiosk and look a somber Amy in the glowing purple eyes.

    "It's not to late."