For Castleton

by Zach Smith

Mike was in a long line for an espresso, with nothing else to do but look at the back of the person in front of him for what felt like ninety-two minutes. The man in front of him had on a plain gray t-shirt that had the word “Castleton” written on it, he had seen that very t-shirt once before in a TV show, a show known for cracking wise on bad sci-fi movies. He wanted to shout out “For Castleton” behind the guy, and he was on the verge of doing so, but in the end he just thought to himself: who am I kidding, he probably went to Castleton. Tom was in a long line for a cappuccino, and he was wearing his favorite shirt, advertising a college he had only ever heard of in his favorite episode of his favorite TV show. Years ago a friend of his had sent him a link to the Castleton Bookstore website, which sold the same t-shirt from the movie. He wore the t-shirt for years in the hopes that someone would get the reference, but nobody ever said anything.

6S

Zach Smith is a graduate of Chestnut Hill College. His work has appeared on the Short-Humour Site.