Stranger Study (extended piece)

I’ve been fiddling around with this a lot and finally decided it was time to post. I am not sure about this piece…the form, and especially the ending. Also, it’s only 185 words. Anyway, here it is (untitled as of yet):

He is average.

Eyes, cue, and ball align. He pulls his arm back, strikes the cue ball. Misses the pocket. Straightens up.

Average height.

He stands, eyes level with the light that hangs from the ceiling, that glows softly onto the pool table. Indifferently attentive is his manner, as he watches his opponent take his turn. Reservedly comfortable, he plants his feet, sets his stance, shifts his weight.

Average weight.

Not a football player, surely, nor an equestrian. What, then?

He prepares his play.

(A slight hesitation, unsure of whether he is solids or stripes.)

In the game of billiards, one is able to gather something about a person’s character. People calculate; he doesn’t calculate. He simply rests one hand on the table and hits the cue ball with the cue (always the same force, same motion), neither precise nor overly sloppy, never an extreme expression crossing his face.

Average looks.
(by anyone’s judgment)

Girls pass by, look, don’t linger.

His own eyes scan the table casually, indifferently attentive.

An eight ball is left.

He hits it, rolls it down the middle of the table.

a stranger study sketch in audio

a recording of my “physical description” stranger study sketch:

http://ia341010.us.archive.org/1/items/strangerstudysketch/stranger.m4a

Stranger Study

Sketches (3 sentences each):

1) physical description
He is average. Average height, average weight, average looks by anyone’s judgment. His hair, the common shade of medium-dark, is an average length, and his eyes are an average brown.

2) movement
In the game of billiards, one is able to gather something about a person’s character. People calculate; he doesn’t calculate. He simply rests one hand on the table and hits the cue ball with the cue (always the same force, same motion), neither precise nor overly sloppy, never an extreme expression crossing his face.

3) insert me
I am explaining to him the law of centrifugal motion and he looks at me over the top of his sandwich from which he is taking a bite and nods, sets it down, nods. I ask if he’s understood what I’ve just said and he holds up an index finger to indicate that he’s chewing. So I scan the room as I wait and by the time he’s done and my eyes return, he seems to have forgotten the question and is taking another bite.