
In a modest, tiled barber shop the curtain rises on a quiet ritual: a seasoned barber sharpens his razor, hums softly, and prepares for a routine shave. His tranquil workspace is instantly disturbed when a flashily dressed stranger bursts in, checking his watch and demanding a perfect cut in just five minutes before a crucial meeting. The barber, ever courteous, obliges, while the ticking clock and the bustling street outside hint at a world racing against him.
What follows is a surprisingly intimate conversation that blurs the line between chance and destiny. The two men discover a tangled web of shared pasts—old towns, fleeting encounters, and parallel travels—that suggests they have been crossing paths for years without ever truly meeting. Their banter, laced with humor and a subtle undercurrent of tension, builds toward an inevitable “reckoning,” leaving listeners to wonder whether this shave will mark the beginning of a deeper, perhaps unsettling, connection.
Language
en
Duration
~15 minutes (15K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2006-11-27
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1887–1953
Best known for sharp one-act plays and cleverly constructed mysteries, this New York writer brought stagecraft and suspense together with unusual ease. His work moved comfortably between theater, short fiction, and novels, making him a versatile voice in early 20th-century American popular literature.
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