As she passed by, the mime looked right up at her, the eye makeup making the eye contact feel creepy, and his sudden grin made it creepier. Suddenly, he stood up, and leaned towards Maya.
"This is why," he whispered.
"Hey, I thought you weren't supposed to talk?" Maya asked. But the man had taken off, running down the street.
Maya gazed at his now-vacant spot on the sidewalk. It looked so cozy, so pleasant. She stood where he once did, and stared at the crowd as it passed her by.
"I need to get milk," said a woman, though her lips didn't move.
"I'd do anything to nail her," said a man who's face was perfectly still. Could she hear people's thoughts?
Maya tried to call out to them, to say something, but her voice was no more than a whisper. Nobody heard hear. She tried to grab one of their hands, but as she walked forwards, she collided with something solid and unseen, something which seemed to be coming towards her, fast. She put up her hands to stop it...
"I wonder why there are so many mimes," a woman thought, as she passed by Maya and stared at her painted face, frozen in an expression of silent horror as the battled the invisible, shirking box. "Who likes them, anyway?"
Maya looked up at this woman and smiled.
~~~