[ WP ] `` He was never warm in his entire life . Not once . ''

Mark's days began with a race against the sun. He was undefeated. By the time the rest of the town would open their shutters, Mark was already cancelling lunch. 
 
 `` I'm not that hungry,'' he would plea to his secretary, `` I had a bagel this morning when I was filling out that form you sent.'' 
 
 If Mark had a wife and children, like all the other 50 something year old guys he worked with do, there *still* would n't be any pictures on his desk. After all, that's space that could be used more productively. 
 
 By the time Mark would step out of the office, his race partner had just finished his lap and drifted back into slumber. He did n't care to consider how long it had been since he last saw his opponent. 
 
 Mark's mother would call occasionally. 
 
 `` You should take a vacation, sweetie. I heard Hawaii is really nice, and it's warm!'' 
 
 `` Maybe next year.'' 
 
 Another year would pass, and another batch of black strands on Mark's head would conform to the grayness that the rest had already surrendered to. One thing would never change though: he was never warm in his entire life. Not once. 
 
 

