Writer's Notebook

"The worst part of waiting is uncertainty. If you're at the doctor's and one person after another is called, you know some time your turn will come. But if you're waiting for a train that's already thirty minutes late, well you just never know." (A Wise Waiter)

Paul contemplated these words while fighting off the drift towards sleep. His student should have turned up fifteen minutes ago. But old Joe was special. Not that he was never on time. Sometimes he turned up thirty minutes early. Once he even arrived thirty minutes late, but on the previous day, making him in effect 23 hours and thirty minutes early. But that was a genuine mistake. Today, who knows what would happen. The fog was so thick, he might not get through at all. If only his wife hadn't gone shopping, they could indulge in a little hanky panky while waiting. Instead, there might just be time to put his hand to this week's 3WW entry and thus indulge those in the world somewhere beyond his ethernet, who might just be waiting for him.