At first glance they looked like an old married couple, out for an afternoon walk and coffee at McDonald’s. Both were dressed in long gray coats and black rubber boots, both moved with slow, uncertain steps.
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“Where do you think?” she snapped, plopping herself into the open seat. They sat in silence for a few minutes, sipping their coffee, but suddenly the man began to rattle and sputter, wrapping his arms around himself in a desperate hug. I thought he was having a fit or a heart attack, but it was actually a long, loud, violent cough, which must have lasted over a minute. It sounded as if an animal were being tortured inside his chest. His face grew dark and teary, his glasses jumped to the floor, and he groped for them blindly among the discarded wrappers as the cough gradually wore itself down to a murmur.
“I think so.”
“I used this. You said you were a Taurus monkey, and I figured it out from this.”
“I don’t know why I have the thoughts I have…”
“You know who. That Jane you’ve been making eyes at.”
“You just want to talk about yourself, that’s all.”
