The Man with the Black Socks

The man woke up to the sound of his alarm, and swiftly tapped the snooze button. With a quick breath, he sat up and turned the alarm off properly.

He rose, and began to gather his clothes and towel. A half-hour later, he emerged from the bathroom, fully clothed – but for his socks. It was a habit of his to select his socks after the morning shower.

He strode across the room and opened the uppermost dresser drawer, glancing down. The sock drawer was full, but mostly with white socks.

Today being the first day of his new job, the man needed a pair of black socks. He pushed the white socks aside and drew up one of the five oddities.

At the office, he turned the chair around and sat down at his new desk. His fingers moved quickly and calmly across the keys. Soon enough, the day was over and he returned to his room.

The week passed uneventfully. On the weekend, being without black socks, the man wore white. He did a load of darks to prepare for the following week.

Weeks became months. The man purchased more black socks, and when his white ones wore through he discarded them. Soon the drawer was about sixty-forty black to white.

The man stopped wearing white socks on the weekends. It seemed irrational to do so, as all his other clothes were darks.

Months became years. The man was promoted, and moved to a larger office. His routine had become second nature, and the fluidity of his movements grew.

His sock drawer grew ever darker. Eventually, only one pair of white socks remained. All the others had been chewed through by moths.

He stopped selecting his socks after his shower. His movements had become so choreographed that he could dress completely in one swift motion.

The man was promoted again. Soon, his entire day became a single action, like a rush of air that passed from home to office and home again.

The one oddity was pushed further back in the drawer, and soon it was buried beneath the others.

Weeks passed in the blink of an eye. The man was promoted again and again. Soon, his office no longer held a keyboard, but he was so used to his routine that his hands sometimes moved in midair while he thought.

Then, cleaning one Sunday afternoon, the man came across something pushed behind the dresser. It was an old notebook of his, filled with drawings and hastily scribbled notes. He thumbed through it, and it brought a smile to his face.

The next day, he left the company. As he left his office for the last time, a rush of wind came in and scattered the papers. He walked outside and looked up at the sun, covering his eyes.

The following morning, the man slept through his alarm. At noon he woke and had a shower. Afterwards, he realized that he had forgotten to select a pair of socks.

He walked over to the dresser and opened the uppermost drawer. Looking down, it seemed there was no option. But the man thumbed through the drawer until he found what he was looking for – the one remaining pair of white socks.