Mountain Qualia

NaNoWriMo Day 2

Being alone allowed Tipi some time to think. It amazed him how he could get by with no recollection of his own identity or past. He clearly knew how to walk, except for that slight mishap on the pavement earlier that day, and all kinds of words popped into his head and out of his mouth that he seemed to understand. He congratulated himself for not having gone insane and doing alright so far.

He stood up and entered the bathroom to take another, but this time, closer look at himself. Dull dark-green eyes, a decent nose, and a magnificent set of hair. Far too much and lacking style, but that could be helped. Extremely tall. Or this mirror is ridiculously low on the wall.

He was a grand master guru on the path of light. But not much of a guru. Look at that outfit. They are more like pajamas. And no shoes either. Maybe he left bed like this. That would explain so very much. Maybe he was sleepwalking and woke up in the middle of the street. It was highly unlikely since it was about noon when he had stumped his toe.

He put his foot on the closed toilet lid. He felt nothing resembling pain, so he removed the bandages and found that he had been behaving like a big baby. A slight scratch and a lightly torn toenail is hardly something to harass a poor helpful woman about, let alone being carried by two grown men into a makeshift hospital serving coffee and cakes.

Not much of a guru acting out for no good reason. He told himself that it was of no use to talk himself down in a crazy time like this. The three stooges that helped Tipi earlier that day told him to stay put until tomorrow. They clearly meant well and had Tipi's best interest in mind as devout followers. Tipi's tummy rumbled and there was no minibar in his room. Feeling into his pocket, he found a few banknotes telling him to go out and get something to eat. He considered ordering room service, but he had not seen a menu in his room and he suspected the all-Russian staff would pose an obstacle. A quick scan of his vocabulary mostly returned words in German, such as Gesundheitsunterwäsche and Angelschreibmaschine which seemed unhelpful not only in ordering food from Russians but in any situation.

There was no way he would venture outside on his bare feet again. In the wardrobe Tipi found brand new, inferior quality bath slippers all wrapped up in plastic. They would have to do for now is what his tummy argued and so Tipi left his room and took the elevator to the streets below.

It was a mild late afternoon in what felt like summer. He started walking in no particular direction, but taking extra mental notes of the things he saw in case he would lose his memory again and needed to find his way back. He stopped briefly to think that over and then turned into another street that seemed to end up in a more lively quarter.

One of the skills that had not left him was that of recognizing the bright colored signage of a fast-food restaurant chain. Peek-a-boo Burgers appeared to be a decent place for a hungry citizen like himself to grab a bite without having to get into any small talk. He entered the place and ordered the most standard burger meal the menu offered. He politely said yes to all questions relating to extra's, add-ons, and power-ups,  to not cause any fuss. After paying for it with the wad of banknotes from his pocket, he took his tray to the most secluded seat in the brightly lit dining area.

The burger was an admirable adversary to the hunger pangs in Tipi's tummy, and he was happy that one of the add-ons he had agreed to was another burger. Wiping sauce from his beard with a napkin, he noticed a woman sitting close by giving him a sour look.

"Hey, aren't you that guru guy?" she said after Tipi accidentally made eye contact.

"Maybe?" Tipi said.

"Yea that's you: mister I-have-no-ego."

Tipi smiled and hoped the woman would somehow magically disappear. She did not.