a short story...

An Incident

     A man stood on a street corner, shivering in the cold. Overhead the sky was by turns dark and light gray. The man held in his hand a briefcase, with his other hand he held his overcoat closed more and more tightly against the wind. He stood thus waiting for the light to change, waiting for the signal to cross over.
     He had been waiting for a long time.
     Just then he saw coming down the street toward him an acquaintance from long ago. This made him shudder. Still, the light would not change, the signal would not come.
     His acquaintance came closer and closer. The wind whipped between the buildings, the sky darkened, and still the light would not change. The man at the corner tapped his foot in his impatience, looked down at the ground. Closer and closer still came his acquaintance.
     Will the light never change? said the man on the corner under his breath as his acquaintance passed without so much as a glance or a word.
     The man on the corner watched his acquaintance grow farther and farther away. A look one might have read as resentment mixed with frustration passed over his face. He stood there, shivering in the cold, and as he watched his acquaintance disappear in the distance, the light changed.
     Still he stood, watching now nothing in the distance, as people pushed past him to cross the street. He stood and stood and stood, as again, after a time, the light changed. When finally he turned to look, it was once again red. Once again he could not cross over, once again he was denied.
     Damn! he said to no one in particular.
     He looked at his watch, clutched his overcoat more tightly, and stood on the street corner, shivering in the cold.