richard smith was fascinated by, and sometimes obsessed by, the idea that everything in the world was connected.
he had read an article in a magazine, or maybe seen a show on public television, about the so-called butterfly effect, and it had a profound effect on him.
richard was always conscious, or at least conscious a lot of the time, that the slightest action could have the widest or most terrible effect.
he was by nature a cautious person, and this consciousness of the connectedness of things served to increase his natural caution.
one day richard was standing at the bus stop waiting for his bus, when he was suddenly approached by a stranger.
the stranger was a heavy-set fellow wearing a cheap brown suit and a white shirt open at the neck. richard thought he looked surly and a bit menacing.
do you know where - 175 barton street is from here? the stranger asked richard in his surly menacing voice. he had a scrap of paper in his hand and glanced down at it as he spoke.
without thinking richard answered, yes, you see that burger king over there? the street to the right of it is 7th street, just go down past the first light and the first street past the light is barton street. i am not sure where 175 would be, probably -
but before richard could finish, the surly man said thanks, put his piece of paper in his pocket, and marched off in the direction of the burger king. richard watched as he turned the corner and headed down 7th street.
as soon as the stranger was gone, richard regretted giving him the directions. but it had happened so fast, and richard had given way to his polite, civilized instincts.
what a nasty looking fellow! surely he was on his way to murder the unfortunate occupant of 175 barton st, or at least beat him up to collect a debt, or maybe the stranger was engaged in some sort of sex trafficking!
richard wanted to call 911, but he had enough sense to realize the response he would get .
how he wished had not given the man the directions. well, richard thought, he would have gotten them from somebody else, but as soon as he thought that, he realized how weak it was.
he was responsible.
richard’s bus pulled up and he got on it.
richard looked at the newspaper and checked the local news online for the next few days but did not see anything about a murder or violent incident on barton st.
as the days and weeks went by, richard tried to put the incident out of his mind, but kept coming back to it.
in his mind he gave the stranger a name - william brown. he forgot that this name only existed in his mind, and that he did not really know the stranger’s name. he began googling “william brown” and “barton street” but without any result.
one day richard got off work early and he decided to walk past 175 barton street himself and check it out. part of his brain knew how futile and pointless this was, but he could not help himself and found himself walking down 7th street toward barton st.
but before richard reached barton street he saw a man step out of a convenience store on to the sidewalk in front of him.
it was william brown!
william brown turned and looked richard straight in the face, almost as if richard had called out to him.
richard tried to pretend he had not seen william brown, but realized the surprise and confusion he had felt must have been obvious on his face.
richard crossed over to the other side of the street. a car’s brakes squealed and someone shouted at him.
he started walking back up 7th street away from barton st, as quickly as he could without running.
richard was afraid to look behind him, but tried to look at the reflections in the store windows as he passed them to see if william brown was following him. this did not work as well as it did in books and movies.
richard did not show up for work the next day.
no one ever saw him again.
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