Nudge Nudge

As I walked along the street today (or was it yesterday? no matter, neither is true), I noticed a woman at a bus stop, a non-descript plain-jane of a woman. Now, she was a long way off, a distance of perhaps twenty metres or more, and from this space she turned to me and winked, directly at me, she just snapped one out. I, caught off guard, thrown, halted in my walk, off balance and hesitating, I looked at her for a sign of recognition, for a detail or feature I could put a name or a face to. I came up blank, I knew not this woman from adam. I looked at again, and again she winked. I'm walking again now, getting closer and closer to her by footstep and it’s going to get a little awkward soon. I am no more than three metres in front of her when she turns full body to me, and winks solidly in my direction and I catch on. There is no eye contact, no light of recognition, just a blank, vacant gaze. And a twitch. And a wink. Winks and twitches, twitches and winks. This is a woman of nervous disorders, the wink no more than a part of a series of elaborate ticks and flinches that are so numerous they appear to be quieing. I sidle by.