"The Man Who Fell Asleep Everywhere" - short story

When I firstmet the elderly man, he was sitting on the supermarket floor, leaning back againstthe laundry detergents in the cleaning supplies aisle. Thinking he had passedout, I bent down to shake him into consciousness. But then I noticed somethingstrange. He was snoring.

"Should Icall the manager?" asked an acne-faced stock boy who appeared out ofnowhere, a look of innocent inexperience in his eyes. "Or anambulance?"

"Wait aminute. Let me see if I can wake him up."

The man on thefloor opened his right eye, and his left eye followed. A smile formed on hislips. "Sorry about that," he apologized.

"I thoughtyou had fainted!"

"Oh, no, Idon't faint," he replied. "I just fall asleep. Help me to myfeet."

He was aboutseventy, I guessed, and quite frail. He reached to the air freshener shelf forbalance as he stood up. His glasses had dropped from his face, but they were heldclose to his chest by an eyeglass chain. His hair was thick, white, and wild. Heintroduced himself as Martin.

"I'll beokay," he said as he hobbled toward his shopping cart. I noticed it wasempty except for a carton of slim milk, a container of low-fat goat yoghurt, anassortment of apples and oranges, and a large jar of dill pickles.

"Can I getyou some water? Or maybe coffee to wake you up?" I said, holding himsteady.

"Coffeewould be nice," he admitted.

We abandonedour shopping carts, to the displeasure of the stock boy, and I led Martin tothe coffee counter at the far side of the supermarket. "Sit here," Iinstructed him, pointing at a small table.

Read the rest of the story on The Bookends Review.

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash