Birthday

I left Jack's gift in the elevator and now it's gone. It was actually a re-gift. Someone gave me an Apple Memory Eraser for my birthday a month earlier. In the first few days I used it constantly. I proceeded to erase all the unpleasant memories I could recall. These included job rejections, illnesses and injuries, wasted vacations, turn downs by editors and agents, thirty boring years delivering mail, traffic jams, endless lines, silly arguments, prayers to a God who refuses a hearing aid, bland lectures, neglected friendships, and all the women who crushed me.
After one week of erasing, all that was left of my life was drinking coffee and peeing.
One month after losing the Memory Eraser I got on the same elevator and spotted an Apple Daydream Creator lying right there in the corner by itself. I examined it and stamped on top was 'property of Gus Abbott'. I knew this man. As much as I needed vibrant daydreams, I also knew Gus needed it more than me. Gus was a lost soul and left to face unending stark reality, he would snap pretty quickly. He'd end up consuming huge amounts of coffee, maybe MY coffee, which would leave me with NO memories, not even peeing ones, unless of course I switched to tea.