Carl had been repeatedly ridiculed in grade school whenever he wore his favourite grey t-shirt, which sported the name "Kierkegard" on it. Nobody around understood what it meant, and it certainly wasn't the hottest cartoon or the new exciting animated movie. That made Carl one of the least popular children in his grade. He also got peculiar looks from adults, but he suspected that they had other things on their mind than making fun of him.

Carl's parents were of the opinion that a child's creativity is inside of him, and did not need to be displayed on the outer clothing.     Most of Carl's wardrobe consisted of pocket t-shirts in various shades of gray. He was probably the only person in his grade to wear khakis.

Years later, Carl was sitting in his studio apartment, staring out into Manhattan as it rained harder than Danny Kaye showing off a new dance move. He sighed as he realized he was doing the same thing he used to do as a child - stare off into the rain, and feel glum.

Sighing again, he pulled a Marlboro Light from a pack he had in his shirt pocket, and lit it slowly with a match. Matches were so much better than lighters, because one can almost always get free matches when going to good diners, restaurants, even bars. The better the establishment, the better the matches, of course.

Dragging from his cigarette, Carl started feeling even more blue. Why had he started smoking again? He thought about this too long, as some ashes managed to fall onto his shirt. Carl was wearing a gray pocket t-shirt. Getting a shirt dirty never really bothered him too much, as he had dozens like them in the closet. Christ, his parents were weird.

But really, it was a good day. As far as ho-hum work went, it was another day. After work, though, the rehearsal of his untitled movie did a fantastic job of rehearsing a few key scenes, albeit without being filmed. Carl figured out that the best way to cut back on filmstock cost was to get it right before they went to film, and then start filming. With any luck, this picture would be done for under half a million.

The question was, of course : would anyone want to see it?

fin.