prizes - 37. a great day to be alive

by harold p sternhagen

being a sequel to fun and games

part thirty-seven of thirty-nine

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the shabby man took his time drinking his tea, but finally finished it. tomo was ignoring him, not even showing any irritation. “well, pal, it was nice talking to you,” the shabby man said. “i’m glad you enjoyed it,” tomo answered. “maybe we’ll meet again some time.” “i hope not.” “but you never know,.” the shabby man said. “no, you never do,” tomo agreed. “strawfeather’s the name, humphrey p strawfeather. maybe you’ll hear from me.” “good-bye, humphrey.” “do you have a name?” “pal.” “o k, pal, see you around.” tomo did not respond with even a nod. * the man who had told tomo that his name was humphrey p strawfeather walked up sixth avenue towards times square. he was in a bad mood. after a flicker of excitement at thinking he might be on to something when he saw the girl who looked like the crazy dame who had accosted him on broadway. he had made a mistake talking to tomo. he should have taken his time, followed the girl and tried to figure out what was what. but now the chauffeur - and surely bodyguard too, and probably not one who just used his fists - was wise to him. humphrey had finally stopped thinking about this encounter with the crazy rich dame. but now she was back - at least in his head. what was she, some kind of curse put on him by fate? as humphrey walked along a phrase popped into his head, one that often did when he was in a particularly foul mood. a phrase he had heard once, either in a movie or on a radio show, and that he could never shake. a great day to be alive. yeah, a great day to be alive. maybe for some people. but never for him. he came to a little strip of grass with a bench on it, at a bus stop. with nothing better to do, and no particular place to go, he sat down on it. he noticed something stuck in the slats of the bench. it was a crackerjack box. an actual box, not flattened out. he had not seen one in years. he almost got a laugh out of it. there were prizes in them, right? so, what was his prize? he took the box and shook it, and then looked inside it. it was empty. 38. the road