I walk down the street but no one is there. At least not with their minds. Everybody is busy somehow.
See that woman over there pushing the baby stroller? Notice the cellphone in her hand supported by the handle of the stroller. Even though she is just 2 feet away from her baby she is miles and miles away from it. Where is she? I have no idea. All I know is: She is not really here.
On the other side of the road is a man jogging with giant headphones blasting loud music in his ears. He is not really here. Probably he is at a concert. Or in a lecture hall.
In the opposite direction a young couple is walking. They walk side by side but they are not really here. He seems to be at the movies while she is in a discussion with someone else.
After a while of passing those who are not really here I finally meet my friend Harvey. He does not care for new technologies, he is too old for that. I am glad to have him.
No one ever notices him but I am not surprised. How could they? After all, they don't recognize me either, they are not really here.
We decide to go shopping. In the subway station we find that the taking of Pelham 123 is the fastest way to get there, even though it makes the most stops on its way.
No one in the subway car is talking. They all are not really here. Just looking down to the ground. As I mention this to Harvey they do not react.
In the mall there are not even clerks anymore. One shop is closed, someone put chewing gum on or into the lock. Just a hand written sign tells us it is closed because of reasons.
We can still find no people. They are not here. Monitors on the shopping cards keep them far away. Telling them what they should want, rewarding them for scanning their goods themselves. Collecting points as if it were a game.
It seems we are not the only ones looking for people. A sign for a missing person hangs on the Wall. They are searching for Paul Blart. Mall Cop wanted is put right next to it. No wonder they cannot find him if there is no one here to look for him. And with no one else here to see the job add, they will not get him anytime soon.
We got what we came for and decide to take a cab for our way home. The first car that stops looks like a New York Taxi. As suspected there is no driver. I unlock the door by scanning the QR code with my cellphone. The option "Coming Home" appears on the screen and I click it. Before Harvey can enter, the cab drives away.
The legacy divider screen to the front seat has the support hotline written on it. I dial the number to complain. A computer voice guides me through a dialog in which I press numbers to proceed through the options. They line breaks down. I want to redial when I receive a text message. The company expresses their regret for my unhappiness with the service. As a compensation my next ride is free.
Before I can feel or express any anger I hear a beeping tone and the door unlocks. I am home. The beeping gets louder the longer I stay in the car so I leave.
We have no doorman (or woman) anymore. They upgraded all the buildings in the street to a camera systems. One guy (or gal? I am not really sure) somewhere in the world is looking over the cameras of all the buildings now. S/he is not really here.
In front of my apartment I enter my password: Swordfish. Harvey is waiting for me. While I want to ask him how he was faster than me, he is already asking for Bob. Suddenly the doorbell rings. Will we find people after all even though we stopped looking? When I open the door no one is really here. Just a package lying on the ground and a little delivery robot heading for the goods elevator. The robot belongs to the house but surely someone must have given it the package?
After closing the door I head straight through to the rear window and grab my binoculars on the way. Maybe I can find someone there. The only thing I can make out is a drone. It looks empty, no more cargo. I think it is already back on its way to the terminal.
I turn around and Harvey is asking me to guess who is coming to dinner. But what about Bob? Was he not asking about him a few seconds ago? That seems to be the right answer.
At last I will meet people. The daring task will be completed. Somehow that makes me fell like I am legend.
This little short story is totally fictional. I do not live in the city nor do I live alone (thankfully) and (sadly) I do not have a friend named Harvey.
I put more than one theme to it. The looking for people theme was intentional and the main idea for this story. And yes, it is borrowed from Diogenes of Sinope. His old teachings just seemed so fitting to our modern times.
During writing the movie theme somehow emerged by itself when Harvey showed up out of the blue. Well, not out of the blue. People were physically there but not mentally. And those people were everyone else. My mind brought me to Harvey as the opposite, a single being that's physically invisible, so no one could see him except the protagonist. From there the movie(s) theme picked up when we went into the subway station. I could not resist that one either so at that point I decided to just let it ride as it developed in my head.
Thank you very much for reading, I hope you feel it was worth your time.
Header image picture taken by me. Final Design made with Canva.