Midnight, Wednesday December 4, 2002.
Two men sitting in the Chatelet metro station. One, unshaven, is bobbing his head in a drunken manner. He often sleeps behind the chairs that run along the wall of the station. A second, new to the station, is sitting two chairs down, calmly and righteously holding an opened umbrella above his head.
Two minutes later, once the train arrives on the platform of the opposing side, I get on. I glance out the window as the train passes by the two strangers. They are now sitting side-by-side, engrossed in conversation, crouching together under the shared umbrella's invisible shelter.