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[Smithy]

Today I was weeding the garden next to the parking lot. A young girl said "Hey!" from behind.

I swung around and was immediately disappointed.

It was her. A girl I knew once. Bitter memories flooded back to mind at the sight of her smile.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Not much."

There was a short silence, and then I made sure to mention all the romantic success I've had in life since knowing her, to show her that I was doing just fine, and also possibly to make her jealous.

"The other day, a creepy old lady was coming on to me." I said. "She tried to lead me into a dark little alcove behind all the trees. It was pretty frightening."

"Oh really?" she asked. "That's weird, the other day a creepy old man was hitting on me. What a strange coincidence."

Well aren't you special, I thought to myself.

"It was nice talking to you," I said.

"It was nice talking to you, too." she said.

I wandered away.

Ten minutes later I realized I was whistling a happy tune, and my brain demanded that I stop it.