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e her own drink. He hadn't" asked' her, .demanded why she was
standing ..there like a confused pigeon. He didn't even bump

into her, cop a feel, and say excuse me like neither of them

knew' what was happening. And plus, he hadn't even asked her

ho~ she was doing;·it wisn't his fault that he was a ni~e 1\
guy. He was just taking what would ha.ve been an ordinary

encounter and turning it into something real.

"Well, um, when I was growing up, my mom didn't 'give us.,:

soda." The man nodded. "And when I finally did have soda,' in,~

fourth 'grade·during after care ..".The man nodded again. He .'.

was listening. "The bupbles did funnY,things to my nose and

burned'my tongue, and'l,didn't like it."

"Th~~'explains it,~ the man said. But i~ doesn't explain

.carbonated' dr i'nks. To think that the very same inaterialthat'.

pops Ln iyour joints is now skipping 'its way through your' ,I;
sugary, syrupy drink, that's the stuff of life. , .,

"And you know, it'~ actually kind of funny how weird of

a kid I became because I'didn't like· soda. The other kids, "r
just couldn't understand Lt .« The man looked to the door.

Louise didn't. notice. 'She 'had pro'blems .'reading other' people

when she was talking about hers~lf. "Other kids would ask I

me,why i didn't like soda, and I would'say something like I i
J
don't know or I just don't." Louise smiled. "I should have

just said I didn't like it, But anyway, every now and then

I"d go to' the machines and spend my week's allowance on

soda, and I'd go home and make myself drink it."

"Uh=huhj" the man said in agreement. He was looking at

Louise's body now. He began fantasizing about sticking his

penis 'into her vagina and cooking' for her.

"After a while, I decided that forcing myself to drink soda

was a silly thi~g for ~e to be doing, even sUiier than

drinking it flat'.So I' stopped 'for awhile" and st ayed away

from vend.inqvrnach.i ne s .and then, a few year s La t er j at a

friend's house, I de ci.ded t o try some soda, ·and lliked it."
y

"Hmm," said the man. "So why don't you drink soda now?"

"Oh, I don't like it,".', .

". The man laugheci and looked .at his watch .."Well, I
.have' to get back to work, «. he said. "Um,. good luck finding

yourself some t hi.nq to drink .."

"Thanks," said Louise cheerfully, The man walked out the

door, his s~da pop fizzling.

.Louise· found she· could move now and began browsing

between fhe aisles of the store.,Whatever'had'been troubling"

her .bef ore was gone. Louise 'smiled as she s.l.oweddown to

examine things she wasn't going to. buy. Maybe all she really

needed was someone to talk to. She stopped.

A wisp of horror drifted across her mind, leaving

traces of its path on Louise's face. It 'looked like she-was

struggling with something. Was it possible that, .t.a-Lk i.nq,

,"