Episode 32

Reflections from the life and times of Mr. Smith. After I had been driving for what seemed like years (but obviously wasn’t) the ground beneath my tires started going up. Soon I was driving through the mountains of Colorado. The scenery was breathtaking. The lack of oxygen was too. My car stalled after every hill. Fortunately, it was right after I made it over the top so I just coasted down. Then my brakes stopped working. I had a hard time not flying off the corner of a cliff or two. Then I paused and reflected on life. And I pondered why, why do we not have parachutes in cars? I managed to stop at the next filling station. I asked a man behind the counter, “Do you have any parachutes?” And he said “go fish.” And I paused, and I wondered, what does fishing have to do with parachutes? He just stared at me. People seem to do that a lot. I quickly pulled out my compact mirror and checked my nostril hairs. I couldn’t find the problem, so I continued our conversation. At least I would have if he hadn’t already walked away. I followed him into the back of the store. We passed shelves upon shelves of canned goods and various other items. Everything was alphabetized in large crates. Finally we arrived in the aisle that said “airplane supplies.” He pulled a cardboard box about 6 feet by 4 off of a shelve 20 feet high. I commented “you have very long arms.” He just stared at me. He pulled out a parachute and handed it to me. I said “gee thanks, does it work?” He said “no comment.”
“That’s good enough for me.” I replied. We settled on a price after I did a lot of bargaining. He wanted to give it to me for only 25 dollars, but I told him it was worth much more than that to me. So I paid him 26. After I got my car started again, with my trusty parachute strapped to my back, I continued on my adventure.
Thus ends this week’s reflections. And then my mirror image disappeared.