“Carriage”
Jul 14, 2019“Five dollars per minute,” screamed one guy.
“Four fifty,” shouted another guy.
“Hey, man, not cool,” shouted the first guy at the second guy.
“Not my problem,” shouted the second guy.
“I’m gonna make it your problem,” shouted the first guy as he shoved the second guy. They got each other into a bear hug and wrestled around while pedestrians watched them.
“Four dollars,” shouted a third guy, laughing at his two idiot friends.
“We’ll take you,” I said to the third guy.
“Welcome,” he said. "Your chariot awaits.”
He held Brandy’s hand as she climbed onto the carriage. I nodded and got on behind her. The man climbed up to his driver’s seat and snapped the reins. The blonde horse slowly moved forward. The wheels cracked and squeaked as they went over small rocks.
“First time in New York?” asked the man.
“No,” I said. “We live here.”
“Ah, very nice,” said the man. “You must have seen it all then.”
“We’ve seen a fair amount,” said Brandy. She looked at me and we smiled at each other.
It was another hot and humid day, but the sun had sunk below the skyscrapers about an hour ago. Central Park was still bright enough for a handsome carriage ride around the lake. Brandy and I were lazing around at home all day, too hot to do anything but drink beers and bitch about the lack of A/C in our apartment. By dusk, it was cooler outside than in, so we thought we’d watch the fireflies light up their butts while biting our exposed skin. Maybe the heat and beer were teaming up against us, but we were looking for some adventure.
“You kids looking for an adventure tonight?” asked the man, as if reading our minds, handing us a flask.
“Sure,” I said.
“Have you ever flown with the fireflies?” asked the man.
Brandy and I glanced at each other suspiciously. Maybe we got on the wrong carriage after all.