Boy in the striped shirt


The world has a really weird way of working out

Sometimes it is even stranger

I completely forgot my work phone in my butt pocket and didn't realise until it was too late to have it returned


the next day, which is today

i went back to work to return it, impulsively walking out the door to the parramatta train, not even finishing my cereal i sped out the house because the next train was in 15 min

After the train was safe and sound i rushed into the first train that left for central for uni

i sat behind this cute guy with a stripped shirt
he looked pretty old and i like to make up stories about strangers i see

especially on train rides or if im waiting for someone

its fun and makes the rides faster

i stared at the back of his head wondering what he did in his life and before you knew it, i ended up at central, where he got off too

without a rush i jogged in my uncomfortable boots to the unsw bus stop, and i noticed he was lining up as well, my story of him changed,

he wasnt that old, i guess i was wrong


i wondered what he did at uni


we sat next to each other but on different seats, one knowing the other was there

i looked at him now and then and laughed at the coincidence, but not out loud of course, im not (that much) of a freak

as i made my way slowly to uni i sat with my group partner outside of our lecture theatre and we discussed our project
and i noticed he walked pass my table, weird

and i told her the story


as i lined up outside for my american literature lecture, he was there too

i never ever noticed him before

i just stared, startled at the coincidence

he looked at me too, knowing and wondering how i came about


it was weird




and that was my story of the boy in the striped shirt

maybe i'll see him next week,

probably not