The Small Dark Man

I'm a member of the Chaucer Boys, a bicycle club for descendents of Geoffrey Chaucer, who once wrote that time and tide wait for no man. All of that sentence is true.

It was raining on Sunday, so some club members decided to walk rather than bike. We headed out in light rain toward Haku, a restaurant where people eat with wooden sticks. We walked about two blocks, passing a mission where homeless people get free meals.There we were joined by a small dark man. He walked along with us for a while.

Apparently the small man got up that morning and developed a plan for Sunday. His plan was to find three old strangers on foot in light rain and join them.

The four of us (now) walked the five blocks to Haku and entered the restaurant side by side. A tall Asian led four of us to a table. The small dark man immediately sat down with us, but my brother told him no. The small man got back up. My brother, also a descendent of Chaucer, is the sort of traveler who sleeps on the floors of peasant huts; perhaps he had seen problems like this develop before. 

I remained standing, thinking I should attempt to talk to the man. I asked him what he wanted, but he didn't respond to English or Spanish. He made a few sounds I didn't understand. Then he abruptly left, and I took my seat and ordered a bento box. When we left the restaurant we looked around for him, prepared to give him a few dollars, but he was nowhere in sight. 

It was like a short story by Herman Melville but pointless.