Headlines

A Story by Simplify

A brief view of the world from a cafe table.

"Two Civilians Shot Dead In The Street" The headlines are always grim. My eyes skim the newspaper as I raise my

coffee mug to my lips. It's almost eerie to be reading about tragedy that occurs in another country. It feels as

though it comes from another world, one so different from the one we live in. I try to imagine it, but with great

difficulty. The small cafe where I sit currently is so estranged from the stories of horrifying bombings and killings

that it is easy to believe that it is simply a work of fiction, as if it could never actually occur. I prefer to think

of it as so, sometimes pretending that each country is a person. They are so much alike, when you think about it. You have your friendly ones and not so friendly ones, the ones who have been around for what seems to be forever and the younger ones with much to learn. I can imagine each country sitting at a table similar to mine, chatting animatedly or reading quietly in the corner. I think of who would order what or which one would be receiving those orders. I wonder if they would watch each other, judging them, figuring out who they are or who they've been, which is a game I often play myself. It's fun to write passerby's histories for them, like the couple by the door. Did they walk around the city together, or did they meet just now for the first time? It's comforting to occupy myself with these thoughts, believing that the world outside does not exist, that after I finish my coffee and fold up my paper, I will not have to leave my seat and banish these thoughts from my head.