old man joe

The old man sat there, mumbling to himself. "No, no, no." Unintelligible fragments of a deranged pre-recorded conversation, the discernible snippets no more than "... I told thatmmmfucker crazymm bastard, con man...mmm.... no!" Frantic mumblings which in another lifetime would (and had) given her heartache but now produced no more than mild annoyance. Now she stood with empty apathy (if not antipathy?) rather than sadness. Repulsed, angered by this man who was doomed to be forever trapped in his own embittered madness.

Well. I guess that's one kind of punishment.