Lu had to work late that Monday night. There had been a backup of fender benders from the previous ice storm, so he didn't leave the shop till about ten. It was dark outside when he exited the shop, and the street lamps painted jagged amber streaks of light upon the remaining snow. Lu walked speedily, somehow sensing a distant danger, of what he knew not. He was feeling especially insignificant that night.

 Maybe it was the fact that nothing ever seemed to happen to him, he thought. Sure, everyone feels bad for Donald now because he happened to catch a bullet from some lunatic escaped from the Police station. Poor Poor Donald, thought Lu, undeserving of any sympathy. Lu remembered the law of Karma and took comfort in that thought. 

As he walked down the icy amber streets, thinking of the mini-celebrity status Donald had recently attained, he was suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him appeared, almost as if from dust, a stalky looking asian man with a pony tail, wearing a white t-shirt. He stared piercingly at Lu and then cracked his neck twice. Lu looked behind him and then back at the frightening man, only to discover that he had disappeared completely in front of him. Lu searched desperately all around him to spot the man again, but he only saw the dark icy buildings. Lu slowly started to walk again, and just when he thought he had cleared the danger of his warped imagination, Loretta Lynn McMurphy popped up from out of an alleyway right in front of Lu, just like the asian man. 

"OH!" yelped Lu. 

"Ah! Don't yell. It's me, Loretta."

"What are yu doing heare?" 

"I'm just taking my dog out for an evening stroll. You look a little jarred. What's been eatin' away at old  Bruce Lee this time?"

"Nothin," mumbled Lu. "Go away before I have to go all red dragon on you." 

Loretta looked at Lu with puzzlement for a second, but then she gets the joke and a soft smile appears on her aging face. 

"Lu. That's the first time i've ever heard you tell a joke."

"Ya well life's weird. I've had a weird night. I have to go. Bye."

With that, Lu walked off with gusto to be alone in an apartment full of strange thoughts.