one day, while bored

a child waits outside a department store and plays with an ashcan. crushed cigarettes become volcanoes or meteors and the sand becomes a desert and/or some intergalactic soil. the sand still has the traces of the store's emblem that was stamped in at the beginning of the day. It's pattern captivates the boy and the pattern becomes something more to him; a sign and message that he must follow. He wishes there were more ashcans around, so the entire message could be read. the boy walks out from under the overhang of the department store roof. He looks left and right for another ashcan. There is none in site, the boy retreats back to the shade of the overhang. a man passes and is about to but out his cigarette, smoked down to the filter. he, instead, gives it to the boy to play with, perhaps even talks to the child and plays with him there before going into the store.

the boy's teeth are too big for his mouth, especially the upper incisors. the man guesses that those are the boy's adult teeth and that is why they look so out of scale with the rest of his mouth. The man notices this, but does not know what to make of his observation. He asks the boy about his teeth. a conversation between them begins. perhaps about beef jerky or candy bars. the man wants to know if the boy is out in front of the store selling either or both of those things. the boy pulls out some softened chocolate from his pockets. It is melted along the aluminum wrapper. The man declines and the boy, too, decides the chocolate is not for him and tosses it into the ashcan. to be continued (figured out)...