Meaningless Story 5: Doppelganger

It was a little known tradition of the place that any newcomer there would confuse two unrelated persons to be twins. This tradition was of course unknown to the newcomer. So when T___ arrived at the place, people began to speculate whom he would confuse to be twins. But unbeknownst of this T___ was confused of other things. Was it alright to drink water from the jug? If the shoelaces become untied, can one stop on the middle of the road and tie them? This doubt came to him when he realised he has been suffering from the untied shoelace malfunction quite a few times since he came over to the Place. Once he was about to tie them again, in the middle of the road, but there were a pack of dogs who seemed to sense this and were making menacing noises. So he continued walking, careful not to trip over his undone shoelaces, till he reached his room. Where he shut the door securely behind him before tying his shoelaces. T___ hated untied shoelaces. Not only was it dangerous but also supremely untidy. T___ hated dogs too. Not only because there was the danger of being bitten and contracting Rabies but he had a mortal fear of stepping on dog poop. And like the undone shoelaces, he noticed he had an increased propensity of stepping on dog poop as well since coming to this Place. He was all for love of animals and all that but dog poop was disgusting. Rabies, he had heard was incurable just like the tendency to step carelessly on dog poop. He remembered that one of his household help suddenly died one day and the autopsy revealed it to be a case of rabies. He was a bit outraged, not because he was humane but because he felt cheated. Sudden and unexpected events are unfair. Just when you are minding your own business, this happens. Same as stepping on dog poop. He was walking on the sidewalk the other day, looking at flowers arranged like Pyongyang's Victory Day Parade, when suddenly he realised he had stepped on dog poop. He felt that the entire universe was against him. This cannot just be bad karma. It was a conspiracy. From then on, he started walking looking down, at the pavement. People of the Place thought that T___ must be supremely depressed. Looking down all the time, shifting gaze, avoiding eye contact and a facial expression that someone was conspiring against him. Little did they know that he was just on the look out for dog poop. They were also supremely curious about the purpose which had brought T___ to the Place. He was reticent about it. When confronted, he would say that he was just passing through. The conspiracy theorists suspected that he was a spy. The mariners thought that he was a shipwrecked sailor. The students believed that he was a hippie. The mayor reasoned that he must be a political exile. But no one knew who he was and why he was here. As for his confusion about the twins, everyone had conveniently forgotten.