"Larry! Hey Larry!" came the words thru the murky fog in my head.
I had been sitting, swirling an empty beer bottle bottom around the sweat rings on the bar; my mind a million miles away.
" Yeah! Huh.....what?"
" It's closing time. I need your bottle" said Amy.
"Ah sure! Sorry!" as I looked around and saw that the joint was empty save me. I paid my tab and left $10 for Amy.
I slowly and deliberately slid my legs from the stool to make sure they were really under me, and lumbered over to the rack for my hat and coat.
"Are you going to be alright Larry?" asked Amy.
"Sure. I'm fine ( I lied). See you later Hon."
I stepped out into cold, buttoning my jacket and felt the misty rain pelting my hat. The darken street, the chilly mist all added to my sad state I was in.
I knew I had to return to my apartment sometime and face facts. "It's over, man! Grow up for Christ's sake! You will still have a life" saying to myself.
I hesitated in my walk at the park fence. I remember the golden minutes we shared here on sunny afternoons, though the outings were few, never to be again!
I finally reached my door on Main St. It was a small apartment above Benson's Hardware Store- now a Thrift shop.
I slowly climbed the steps with legs weighted down. Once inside, I walk across the dark room to the lit aquarium tank. Yes, it was true. Inside it lay my old friend Sluggo. My companion, and confessor all this time, laying there with tentacles bent down. My pet slug had died and moved on, leaving me to deal with this cruel world alone. Never more will I see his shiny slime trails left behind. But he taught me well about the joys of life. I will survive; I will survive!!!
I hope this brings some inspiration to someone, to carry on when a *slug* falls out of your coin box of life.
With watery eyes, I thank you all for reading this. Larry (hiccup!)
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