September 12, 2007
A Glimpse of Arthur
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John, New York, New York, 1994
My best friend, Arthur, passed away suddenly right before his thirtieth
birthday. Several months later, on a warm summer night, I was dining with a
good friend of mine, and talking about Arthur. As we walked down Sixth
Avenue heading for the theatre, we were stopped at a crowded intersection
waiting for the light to turn. I looked down for a second and caught a
strong whiff of Polo cologne, Arthur's favorite cologne. I looked up, and
about five to six feet in front of me, through the group of people, I swear
I saw Arthur looking at me!
I gasped, and my friend said, "What's the matter?"
I said, "That guy there..." and she finished, "...looks like Arthur?"
I said, "How do you know?"
She told me, "Because you described him exactly!" But by then, he was gone.
Could this possibly have been what I think it was, some sort of an
encounter? Thirteen years later, it still unsettles me.