Panic on a Park Bench

"Hey, man, you look awful!"

"I know."

"Been awhile since I last seen you, too."

"I know."

"What happened to you? You got bags under your eyes and you don't look like you slept in three days."

"It's these goddam assassins. Can't get 'em off my tail."

"You're already on the street, what's left to take?"

"These aren't corporate assassins, they're personal."

"Jesus! What did you do?"

"No one wants the love of a homeless man."

"No doubt. But what are you gonna do?"

"Fuck, I don't know. I can't rest, I got stress pains in my stomach and at times I feel like I'm going right out of my mind. Pretty fucking frustrating."

"Dude, you can't keep this up. You gotta get some rest. Just look at you!"

"Where? I can't find a safe place anywhere. Goddam Debby took out my last remaining defenses. Being out on the streets was my fortress against her. How she made it through I'll never know. It just doesn't make sense and I've been racking my brain trying to figure this all out. She never steps outside of her own little world. She can't risk it."

"So there's no way out?"

"Perhaps so. I'm afraid maybe I've just done too much damage to my life and now the game is up. I just hate seeing freaking Debby outplay me."

"Wish I had some answers for you."

"Me too. I can't hardly maintain my facade any more. All my energy is used for running. This thing is wrecking my whole life."

"I never thought any facade was maintainable."

"Yeah well, you know, I gotta keep up the happy-shiny-homeless act. Otherwise they can't deal with the guilt of seeing you here. Christ, it's like I'm always a little kid trying to make up for my parents' failings."

"Oh - yeah - there's that little game. Can't show all your anger. But if you've been doing that since you were a little kid, that's fucked up. As for those assassins, I don't know how you can avoid them."

"To tell the truth, it may not matter. The running alone is going to kill me. Ironic, huh? But I'm going to tell you a secret I'll take to my grave: when I die on the street and I take my last breath exhausted from the running, there will definitely be a karmic justice to that."