The other day I sat at Dunkin' Donuts, where I had ordered a dozen pumpkin pie donuts. I ate donut after another, delighting in the spiced pumpkin cream, which sits like a geyser of gaiety in the center of the donut. I would take a bite, and then another, giddy with anticipation, for I knew with each bite I drew closer and closer to the cream geyser.
The other day I sat at Dunkin' Donuts, and as I ate my 12 pumpkin pie donuts, I also looked out the window, and I noticed the reflection of a man - an older man - watching me intently as I ate. There was something unusual about this man, something sumptuous. I turned to meet his gaze, and he abruptly stood up and ran out the door, hitting into an older woman. "Oh baby I'm sorry!" he said as he ran. It all happened so fast I had not the time to react, and the sumptuous man was gone.
Later, I went to the New York Public Library to browse their rare collection of cream manuscripts. Only a few people have access to this collection, and of course I'm one of them. I was sifting through a cookbook from ancient France when I saw a recipe for a cream pastry, in which the cream was mixed with pumpkin and spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. Good heavens! Did the pumpkin pie donut originate in ancient France?
It was just then I heard a noise, which was quite rare because, as I said, only a few people have access to the cream archives. I turned and who was standing there but the man who had been watching me at Dunkin' Donuts! When he saw me he stood motionless for a moment, and then darted out the door. I pursued, chasing him down the marble halls of the New York Public Library. "Stop that man!" I shouted to the security guards, but they were useless. I continued my pursuance, chasing him up, up, until we reached the rooftop. We ran until he reached the ledge. I had him trapped. It was either face me or jump. He jumped.
To be continued...
