Math Equation - Flash Fiction

After my shift, I went to my local CVS to get something to drink and a snack or two. I was not in the mood for any actual food, just something to tie me over as I drove home, so I thought I would quickly go into the CVS and get something, a habit I have done a few times before.

The parking lot in the place is never easy to navigate, in that when you turn into the lot, you have to make a quick second turn to get a decent spot. Instead of dealing with all of that, I normally park as far away from the store as I can, and then walk.

I parked my car on the side of the building where no other car would dare park, since my car is really out of the way, and backing up out of the place will be a pain in the ass.

I jumped out of the car and saw a man pushing a shopping cart, but not towards the store, but away from it. The shopping cart was not a cart from the store either, and was filled with garbage bags of random stuff found around town.

"Hey, you!" The stranger called over to me.

"I don't have any money." I quickly responded. I sensed that he was only interested in me for such a thing.

"No. No. I don't want any money. Let me tell you something…" He paused for a second, as though he zoned out. I stood there, confused, not sure if the man was still thinking about what to say or was about to have a heart attack. "Are you ready for this?"

"Uh, sure…" I entertained the stranger, sensing he only wanted to reveal some nonsense to me, more than be any threat to my safety or wallet.

He spoke with a struggle, as though the words were hard for him to say. Each word, each phrase, was a struggle for this man to utter, so much so that I almost missed where he started. He knew his words, but his mouth was giving him difficulty, so he took his time to make sure each word was correct.

"Life, you know all that we are and do… life is a math equation, my man. That is all it is.

Look around you, and that is all you are, and all that we are.

It's math." He took a deep breath as though he had just run a lap around the track. "But it ain't like some math you see in school." He started to use his hands as though he were counting. "All with the stagnant numbers – 1+1=2, E=MC^2, a^2+b^2=c^2. No, it ain't like that at all.

Life is math with movement." He almost fell over as he moved his hands across his face.

"You okay?" I asked.

He didn't answer and only continued his previous thought. "Math that moves. The numbers and equations you learned in school, changing and moving all the time…

That is life. That is what we see and feel.

So when you do something, no matter what it is, it fits into life." He used the cart to hold himself up. His hand was shaking as he tried to keep himself from falling. "And why? Because life is nothing more than a math equation that keeps changing.

And we are all in this equation, my brother. We're all in for life."

Slowly, he moved towards me and patted me on the back, shook his head, and pushed his cart full of garbage away from me.

I didn't respond or say anything as he went away from me. I turned towards the store and walked towards it. I almost got hit by a car pulling out. After avoiding the collision, I went to get a store cart to go buy what I originally wanted. I pushed the cart into the store, and before I even got to the first aisle, I stopped. I had forgotten what I even went in to buy.

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