Teashop Trip

I joined the visitors and went on a day trip today, but it wasn't the sort they usually enjoyed. I had sat down in the teashop with my cake, coffee and book, when I became peripherally aware of someone staring at me. I ignored this for a few minutes, and then looked across...

A deadly chill crept up my spine.

The guy staring at me was an identical twin - hair, beard, glasses and book. An existential mirror lay just three yards away and it would not have surprised me if the doppelganger went on to echo my every movement too. Should I test the hypothesis by extricating a bogie from my left nostril and flicking it towards him? Would an identical bogie travel automatically towards me and land in my coffee?

I turned away with embarrassment and looked out onto the street.

Another man, again absolutely identical to me, stared across from his car.

Yikes! Had my time come? Was this the weird end of a prosaic life? Were these creatures the grim reaper's assistants?

Or was it just a strange coincidence, made more likely by the erosion of individuality which ageing seemed to bring? Satisfied with this interpretation, I returned to my book and, after a while, I dared to look up again.

Both doppelgangers had gone.

And a woman identical to my wife in a yellow coat, stood at the counter.

A great roar of laughter came from upstairs, somewhere....