Dave Read
Calgary, Alberta, Canada

First Step

"How can I help you?" she asks.

How can she help me? I'm not sure where to begin. I'm overweight and middle-aged. Hair sprouts where it shouldn't and that which I want is thinning and grey. It has been years since I've had a good sleep. My career has stalled. My kids rebel against me. I agitate my wife. Once-close friends have become distant. Food is bland. There is nothing on TV. I've lost my sense of adventure and prefer staying home. I didn't become the man I dreamed I'd be.

"Regular coffee, two sugars," I answer with a problem she can solve.

stacked deck
I lose a hand
of solitaire