A Walk with Cooper Wilson

The ring of Gary’s phone pierced through the quiet night. He could barely lift his arm to answer the phone, but was able to knock the headset off the ringer. His original thought was that there was some sort of emergency. But the man barely had an family and they wouldn’t call him. He answers in a raspy voice. “Hello?”1

A mysterious voice on the other end excitedly answers, “Have you ever visited a park at night?”2

Gary, only partially awake, still can barely recollect what’s going on, “Who the hell is this?”3

“The park at night is a beautiful place, man. You just soak in all of the lives that look upon you in the darkness. It’s crazy man.”4

“Whoever this is….it’s 3 in the morning.”5

“It’s Cooper, man. You gave me your card. What did you expect for me to do with it?”6

“Cooper?”7

“Yeah man.”8

“Are you drunk or drugged up in anyway?”9

“Nah, man. I just currently possess a lack of sleep. I’m gonna be in the park in about fifteen minutes. I just figured you would like to know, just in case you wanted to join me.”10

Gary could barely think straight but knew this was an opportunity that wasn’t going to happen again. He stumbled through his dark apartment, throwing the first article of clothing he could find over himself. Gary approached Cooper in the darkness. Cooper is just sitting on a bench, his arms leaned back over the back and his head faced toward the stars. Gary approached slowly, “Cooper?”11

He awakes as if from a trance. Looks down back to earth and smiles upon catching sight of Gary, “Gary, It’s a pleasure to see you my man.”12

“How are you –“13

Cooper interrupts by holding his hand up, “Let’s walk.”14

As they walk down the concrete path, Gary asked with a curious suspicion, “Cooper, I couldn’t help but wonder. Why did you call me here?” Cooper looks at him with some suspicion. “I mean you didn’t seem to interested in speaking to me when it was for business purposes. I figured you would never want to have a social meeting.”15

Cooper laughs, “Yeah, man. I dunno what it was about you, but you just seem genuine.”16

“You think I’m genuine?”17

“Yeah. You think for yourself. You’re not driven by the suits.”18

“How would you know that.”19

“Well, it’s been about two weeks. And I still have yet to see an article written about me in Music Weekly.”20

“Yeah well the article was never made.”21

“Why is that?”22

“Artistic differences between me and the editor.”23

“Artistic differences?”24

“Yeah. He wanted me to write it and I didn’t want to write it.”25

They share a laugh, “Why didn’t you want to write it?”26

“Well it was either give my opinion and trash this rising artist or falsely glorify him and lie to myself.”27

“Like I said, genuine. I hope you didn’t get in trouble.”28

“I guess we can’t always get what we hope for…I got fired.”29

“Oh shit, man. I’m sorry.”30

“Don’t be. It was my choice. I didn’t really have a fantastic career anyway. So it wasn’t like I was putting anything on the line. I’ll land on my feet again.”31

“Damn, man.”32

“What?”33

“What is it about night that just bonds people together?”34

“The darkness creates a mystery. That mystery creates a false sense of security which inspires trust.”35

Cooper stops walking in amazement and then breaks into laughter, “Shit, dude. You have a little bit of philosophy in your lungs!”36

Gary displays his flattery with a smile, “Just a little bit.”37

“Man, you could have my job.”38

“I would if I could play the guitar.” They both laugh and Cooper gives him a pat on the shoulder as they continue down the path into the night air.39