SCREAMING

‘You know how people say, “I’m free,” or, “I’m well,”?’ he said.
‘You mean when you ask, “How are you?”?
‘Yes,’ he said, ‘and they say it in a different language like Hebrew.’
We were drinking coffee. Comfy sofa is why we chose the café.
‘Yes,’ I said.
He said, ‘They invented eight, then five and then three.’
‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Descending?’
‘Eight was the best,’ he said. ‘So it was downhill from there.’
He went into a stream of repeats before returning.
‘The number eight is about renewal,’ he said. ‘The leaves fall off the trees and know they’ll be back.’
‘What, reincarnation?’ I said.
‘Rebirth,’ he said. ‘They always come back screaming.’