Fallen Arches
Marc Kipniss

He planted his foot. He dug a hole and planted his foot. He dug a hole and planted his foot and watered it with the watering can. He dug a hole and filled up the watering can at the spigot, then planted his foot and watered it. He got a shovel out of the tool shed, then dug a hole and filled the watering can at the spigot. He unlocked the door to the tool shed and opened it, then got a shovel out and dug a hole. He put his foot in the hole and covered it up with the dirt he'd dug out of it, then watered his foot with the watering can that he'd filled at the spigot.
He waited for a while but nothing happened, so he waited a while longer. But still nothing happened. So he dug up his foot and put the shovel back in the tool shed and closed and locked the door, then kicked the empty watering can and went to bed.

*

The first dream he had was about a woman. The woman came from France. The woman was no longer his woman. She had broken up with him and moved back to France.
The second dream he had was about a man. The man wore an overcoat. Under the overcoat he wore a suit and tie. The tie had a design on it of many shields.
In his third dream he didn't have to go to work in the morning. He didn't have to commute into the city in the morning and spend the whole day pouring over legal documents that all looked the same or anything.
The fourth dream was like the first, except the French woman didn't break up with him. Instead she met him in the city. He didn't go to work in the city. He met her there instead. At her pied-a-terre.

*

He woke up late and hurried to the station with his briefcase. He hurried to the station with his briefcase but did not arrive in time. He only arrived in time to watch his train as it disappeared down the tracks. Then he watched the tracks disappear into the distance. They converged far away from him, from where he was standing. He felt the last vibrations fading under his heels. He also felt a wad of gum, which was stuck to one of his shoes. He went up and down with it. It stretched and stretched. He raised his leg farther and farther. He did a few high kicks. And a few more. He started to enjoy himself. The twanging sound the gum made was pleasant and soothing. He liked the sound of it very much.
Then there was another sound. It was the sound of another train, which rumbled up the tracks and screeched slowly to a stop. He saw people's faces in the windows. The gaping faces of men and women.
The faces looked like shovels. The shovels seemed to scoop into him, into the depths of him. He held his briefcase in front of his chest, for protection. Then he held it over his face. He pressed his forehead against the cool leather. His fingertips gripped the stitching tightly. But after the train pulled away he put his briefcase down and just felt all scooped out.

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