He looked at her…sitting there drinking her beer…talking to the fellow next to her…as his ashtray piled up and pint glass became empty…neon lights blinking on pinewood walls and tarnished brass losing its luster over the years like him…like him…

Remembering when he was young…dancing with women…old black and whites showing a man in his prime…not this old toothless cynic of today…not this man introduced to the hardships of life…the smoking and drinking…affairs too many to mention…heartbreaks woven over the course of time…he looked at her…

Her with the pretty brunette hair and high cheek bones…eyes bedroom brown…he wondered if she ever cried…if ever there was sadness in her life as she lifted a shot glass to her pink lips…

We’re in a bar drinking…,he thought…two people drinking…not knowing each other…much like communion being passed…,I wonder if she gets sad…,he said…,Of course she does…she’s human…