WotD: 3/27

equivocate: intransitive verb;
1. To be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or to avoid committing oneself to anything definite.


He wore many masks. He had a wide collection. One for every occasion, one for every emotion, one for every person he came across. To him, masks were safe; they let him always observe from the outside, never having to commit himself to the inside.

He never had one name. He could be known as Paul, Frank, Thomas, Jason, Nathaniel and those were just a small portion of the names he was called. He did everything and nothing; banker, analyst, scientist, philosopher, slacker, store clerk and even beggar. A jack of all trades, master of none.

Today, he is John. John fancies himself to be a intelligent person, but always seems to have his foot in his mouth. He has a girlfriend, but their relationship has been on-off for the past year so he wants to find something more stable. John works as a data entry clerk for a small company that handles insurance claims. He doesn't love his job, but he is happy to have it because it helps pay the bills.

He stared at his computer screen. The box where papers that needed entry into the computer was empty. A slow day by all means. The ticking of the clock could be heard cutting through the silence.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

He leans back into his seat and sighs. Slow days were the worst. No work but he still had to be at the office "working."

The bell for the outside door jingles. A customer, or so he thought. A police officer steps in.

"Excuse me, do you work here?"
"Why yes I do officer, how may I help you today?"
"Well, we've been getting reports of a man going around terrorizing folks in this community."
"Well what has he been doing officer?"
"He has been tying them up and throwing them into closets, bathrooms, stairwells and the like."
"Well that is just horrible."
"Yes it is. Well Mr. Frinks, this is just a reminder to be careful and to call the police if you see anything suspicious."
"I will do that officer."

He smiles at the officer. A fake smile. The officer buys it. He steps back outside and into his cruiser, driving off. John walks to the front door and flips the "open" sign around to "closed." He then walks to the back of the office and into the restroom for the small office.

He looks down at the terrified man who is gagged and tied, wearing only his underwear. The man starts to plead through his gag, attempting to mutter some kind of sense into John.

"John." he smiles. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you. I just wanted to have a little...fun. You see, my life is boring. Very boring. So, I like to see what it is like to walk in other people's shoes. I have to say, your shoes are pretty boring too. I enjoyed the game we played today, I hope you had fun too. I think we'll stop today. Remember this though: Don't come looking for me, I'll come looking for you."

The terrified man stares at his captor. "John" simply turns around, leaving the bathroom, and not closing the door behind him. He grabs his coat from his seat and drapes it over his shoulder. Early day today, since there is no work to be done. As he walks out of the office, he begins to whistle and he thinks to himself:

I wonder who I should be tomorrow. Maybe Andrew down at the car dealership. I hear that selling cars is a mile a minute lifestyle.

-Is the grass always greener on the other side? Is it worth it to walk a mile in another person's shoes?-