encounter with man at the library
today at the library, a man was wearing my hat. i should clarify: he wasnt wearing the same hat as me; he was wearing The same hat, as in, my hat - a hat i had lost three years ago. the hat was a blue and red hat from the 1980s, a hat they sometimes call "a cap", and on the front of the hat was a german word, the german word being "Budweizer", which in english translates to mean "tub of wheat", and the hat, i always wore the hat because it suited the shape of my head, it still would suit it today, and i saw that my hat was still encrusted with the same white crystals, crystals of ocean spray, spray from the time i slept on the beach pontoon, waking wet and red raw, salt all over my hat, and so then it was clear that this man was not only a thief, he was also a slouch, a slouch too lazy to wash the salt off my hat, and it became clear even more, this man was a slouch in all areas of life, for if i were to describe the man in one word, i would say "unkempt", not just his clothes and beard but even the newspaper he was reading, it looked as if it he had found it in a puddle of road water and dried it on the roof of his shack, and then to describe the man in another word, i'd describe im as "old", he looked about 90 with a patchy white beard that looked as if pecked by birds, and the man, he looked so old and unkempt that i started to doubt my urge to go over and take my hat back, and just as i was coming to the decision that i had every right to so so, the man looked up and met my eye, and without even meaning to, i gave him a sharp look with the eyebrows as if to say "enjoying my fuckin hat?" and the man, he instantly looked down as if sad or ashamed, i don't know what, his bottom lip was shaking, and all i knew was that i had no desire to reclaim my hat any more. when i got home, i had the sudden worry: what if it wasnt my hat. i went through all fourteen of my bedroom drawers and then looked under my bed, and there covered in dust, was my hat, still with the same salt stains. i couldnt come to any conclusion as to why it was here, but also, there. i just knew i had to change my present lifestyle. i changed the sheets and washed every cup lying round in my room and did a load of laundry, throwing in the hat.