Mugs and Pajamas

Mugs and Pajamas

He was a nice guy. His face was covered with black hair. One could still see his smile and hear him laughing. He sat. Often he got up from his throne. Apparently he didn't do much. He had a mug. The inside was dark brown, just as the great majority of the mugs. The browner the mug the more important the owner. There were rules. Never wash your mug unless it's Friday. At Fridays everyone wore pajamas. Not this guy. He always dressed in jeans.

One Friday, a very sexy lady without a smile told him he had better wear his pajama, just as everybody else did. He refused. He said, Look at my mug! Feel it, scratch it, compare! Her mug was immaculately white. She left and he got up for another coffee, smiling.

Another time, they washed his mug and put a wrapping by his desk, with a note. The nice guy became serious and querulous. For a while he didn't talk or laugh. His face, getting darker. His mug, clean, unused.

Until yesterday. He burst into the room in a one-piece-cotton-cream-pajama that could have been from his father. At the back one could read, Fridays'. The nice guy bought a weekly collection and now he picks up on anyone not wearing one.

© José Coelho, 2015