The boy on his phone

Shane, as we'll call him, spends every Thursday at 11 o'clock in the park behind Bar Louie. Shane is maybe 20 years old and has a pretty good life. He loves hanging out with friends, but loves the solitude he gets in this tiny park. He comes there just to walk around or sit on a bench just to experience the outdoors in the middle of a land full of skyscrapers and businessmen. He watches the squirrels scatter about, instead of the men and women running to their stuffy cubicles. He listens to the soft wind whisper through the leaves instead of the jumbled, mixed voices of people in a crowded restaurant. He listens to birds chirping and sees the little girl laughing with either her babysitter or older sister, he can't tell. He sees another young adult female, in black puts over blue jeans, with a black north face jacket and bug-eye shades walking a giant black lab whose coat matches her clothing and shoes. He hears the pathetic yip of a tiny long-haired chihuahua connected to an older male by a long, red leash. He looks over to the center of the park and sees us, film and acting students, setting up a camera and a scene. He watches as the taller guy picks up the old fashioned camera and climbs up into the tree behind the bench on which the actress sits. Shane watches as they repeat the same steps three or four times. A boy in a black leather jacket struts over to the girl sitting primly on a bench, checking herself out in the reflection of her phone. He watches as they pretend to flirt, as the boy checks his pockets for a lighter for his cigarette, as the girl hastily hands him a lighter, and keeps watching as the scene plays on. After a while, the crew and actors slowly part from each other, and Shane stays on his bench in the corner under a large, full tree. The park is almost empty, except for Shane, the older man with the little dog, and a couple of the film students. Shane looks around, squinting in the sun. Then his phone rings. He takes it out of the right pocket of his brown, zip-up jacket. "Hello?"