LatinosUSA

It is my pleasure to present a new series of original poems by Bogdan Dragos. We have been publishing his poems on Masticadores (Gobblers and LatinosUSA) for four years—every single week. As an author, he receives hundreds of visits to our website, LatinosUSAMasticadores. He has our warmest regards and gratitude. We invite you to join us every Thursday for his poems; this series will run through February 2027. On LatinosUSA, they appear in the «Short Stories» section, as they are indeed brief tales.

Thank you, Bogdan!

J. Ré Crivello Founder and Director of Masticadores.com (20 blogs, 10 countries, 8 languages)

Man, I love this vitamin water

I don’t care how healthy or

unhealthy it is

I just love drinking it

So here I go

straight to the grocery store

for some bottles

deep into the night

when I see this massive

pile

of women’s shoes

discarded in the parking lot

It’s the size of

a small car

All shapes

all colors

all with crazy high heels

I go inside the store and

ask the cashier

about the story behind all

them women’s shoes in the

parking lot

“Some trucker dropped them

from his truck.”

“Really?”

“They’re all worn, by the way. No pair

is new. He must’ve stolen or

kept them as tokens from

all the hookers he hooked up

with along the

years.

Truckers using the services of

hookers is no stereotype, you know?

It’s almost always true.

And this one… must’ve been some

type of psycho for real.

Vitamin water as usual?”

“Uh, yeah, sure. Give me one with

Magnesium and one with Zinc.

Both cold if possible.”

“Not possible, sorry. Fridge is full

with cans of energy drinks. They’re

in way higher demand.

Nobody walks in here asking

for vitamin water when they can

have energy drinks. You’re the

only exception to

the rule.”

“Damn. Perhaps I’m a psycho

in my own right then.”

The cashier doesn’t laugh.

Just scans the two drinks

and places them on

the counter

I pay with my card

“So anyway, this crazy trucker

who left the shoes an’ all…

Well, why did he leave in

such a hurry?”

“I honestly don’t know. Just saw him

dump the shoes from

the back of the truck and leave in

a hurry like he had

the devil a stride behind. But I’m used

to weird individuals. Some are

worse than others. My biggest problem

now is having to

take all them shoes to the

garbage cans. I don’t wanna

touch any of ‘em.”

“Damn. Did you contact the manager

about it?”

“Did you work even one

day in retail? One day in your

whole life?”

“Yeah. I’ve been a bartender once.”

“Good enough. Well, then you know

problems aren’t solved by

addressing them to the managers.

They’ll only ask you

to take care of ‘em and that’ll

be that.”

“Well, damn…”

“Yeah…”

“Say, what if you set them on

fire? The shoes I mean, not the manager.

It would be a sight to see

at the end of a shift, no?”

“Nah. Too much plastic. The smoke

would get me in trouble. You want

anything else?”

“No thanks. Just the waters.

Well, take care and

have an easy rest of the shift. See you

later.”

“Later.”

Outside

the shoes look weirder and

weirder the

more I stare at the pile

What a strange world

I open up the

Zinc water

and take a gulp

when the local homeless

dude approaches and

asks, “Hey, got any booze?”

“Nope. Just water.”

“You sick?”

“No. I just like the flavor of

this water. And don’t ask

me for smokes or lighter either.

I don’t smoke.”

“Aight then. Fuck you.”

And he’s off

“Wait a sec,” I call behind him

He turns. “What?”

“Them shoes in the parking lot. What’s

with them?”

The question brings a smirk

to his face. “Heh. Why, of course

it’s the result of living

interesting times, don’t you think?”

“What?”

“Come now. Don’t act like it

ain’t what you prayed for

all along.”

I shake my head. “I don’t get it.”

“Interesting times, my friend. You wanted

them,

now you have them.

So, what does a writer who lives

in interesting times do?

Well, you tell me. Or better yet

show me.”

“What the…? How?

How d’ you know?”

He gives me a shrug

and starts walking away.

“Like I’ve said. Interesting times, my friend.

Interesting times…”

I keep starting at his back

as he departs

then I take another look

at the big pile of shoes

in the parking lot

then I drink some more

vitamin water

and finally take

my leave

Interesting times

indeed