THE MAN WHO GAVE NO OFFENSE

March 5, 2016

The man who gave no offense rarely emerged from his hiding place for fear he might somehow upset a random stranger met on the street. With this thought foremost in his mind, he set forth only when in direst need between 2 and 3 in the morning to visit refuse bins in search of edible crusts. Darting from shadow to shadow, one night he approached a reliable garbage source in the alley behind a pizza parlor. Lifting the lid, he disturbed a vagrant folded comfortably in the bin and drinking from a liquor bottle.

‘Sorry!’ shrieked the man who gave no offense.

Tears erupted and streaked down his cheeks after he slammed the lid back into place and raced home to his burrow. He quivered there all through the night and well into the morning. Then he ceased quivering. In fact, not only did he cease quivering, he ceased breathing, too. He meant no offense, and none was taken.

Leave a Reply