I had the madness of Thelonius turned up loudly.  The angular riffs of Underground filled my small apartment and helped drown out the pain.  It was desperately late and my level of loneliness was grave.  The nasty, gray walls of my apartment seemed to close in tightly around this time.  A single 60 watt bulb dangled in what should be my living room; if I had furniture.  That had been sold long ago.  They were coming and I knew it.  It could be tonight.  It could be 6 months months from now, but they were coming.  I could here the faint galloping of the horses now.  I looked out the windows constantly to see if I could see them.  I hadn't yet, but I heard them.  The loud scout party voices left a week ago.  They told me the end was coming.  At the time, I didn't really believe them.  I do now.  I hear the horses now.  

   Every now and again, I noticed the number of bottles strewn about the apartment.  For a split second, i was shocked.  The feeling left as I took another long pull of cheap whiskey.  The number of empty's felt right again.  The galloping grew louder as the night rolled on.  Around 3:00 AM, I turned the light off and sat in the open window.  I watched the other drunks coming back from the bars.  They were loud and annoying; annoying because it still worked for them.  Thelonius' piano stopped.  The galloping grew louder.  I stumbled over to the record player, flipped the acetate, and the musical dysfunction began again.  

   Nauseously, I walked into the bathroom, took a long drink of whiskey, and threw up the "coffee grounds" in the toilet.  I cupped some cold water in my hands and threw it in my face.  I stood up and caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.  I had no idea who it was.  The idea struck me like a flash of lightning.  Why wait on the horseman?  I don't know this person looking back at me; what did I care?  Why not end this misery tonight before the sun came out and I had to do it again?  My heart pounded and I actually felt excited.  I had a solution to this nightmare. 

   I grabbed the straight razor and dumped as much whiskey down my throat as I could stand.  I looked in the mirror, heard Thelonius pounding the ivory, the room spun, and I passed out.  I awoke this morning to the deafening gallop of the horsemen and the blinding sun.  I escaped the horsemen and the man in the mirror for one more night...