Parking

Parking

“You can’t park here,” the man said to Joe.

Joe looked around. First the lot was almost empty, and second this was one of the furthest spots from the store. Joe had been parking here for almost a year to go for his run.

“Why not?” he asked.

“It’s against the law...”

“The parking lot law?”

“Yes,” the man said with a perfectly straight face.

“Are you a store employee?” Joe asked.

“No,” the man said, “I am a parking enforcer.”

“A parking enforcer... I don’t know what that means.”

“It means you can’t park here,” the man said, starting to get agitated, “you may park there.” He pointed to a spot about ten feet away.

Now, feeling he was dealing with someone slightly unbalanced, Joe decided to just go along. “Great, thank you!” he said, moving his car.

By the time Joe turned back, the man was gone. Shaking his head, he laughed and started stretching for his run. “This will make a great story later,” he thought.

Suddenly the pavement started shimmering and a shadow began to rise. About four feet up, a square appeared, containing the man’s face.

“Thanks Buddy!” he said, “I was fixing a broken vent!” and in a swirl of dust, it shot straight up in the air and out of sight.

Joe was still standing there when a policeman arrived. “Sir? Are you alright?” the officer said.

Breaking from his thoughts, Joe shook his head, “Yes, sorry, I was just getting ready to go for a run.”

“Ah, you’ve been standing here for almost five hours...”

“Well, I guess I’m ready,” Joe said, and jogged away thinking he was never, ever going to tell anyone this story.

Still hovering above earth, Jergon chuckled as he finished preparing to continue his journey to Voletron.