text: Seven seconds mean different thing for different people at different times. The seven seconds where you decide to close your eyes after your alarm goes off pass differently than the seven seconds before you give birth. Time is relative, seven seconds can turn into seven hours or it can pass in the blink of an eye. Seven seconds is all it took for the police officer to decide to look the other way when he pulled up next to me on the curb. In one second, he saw a dirty homeless man. In two seconds, he was positive I was an addict. In three seconds, he saw the blanket laying flat where there should have been a bump. In four seconds, he deduced my leg was missing. In five seconds, he saw my military tattoo. In six seconds, he contemplated his choices. And in seven seconds, he had made up his mind to leave me alone, all before before he had even talked to me. "Hello Sir," his southern accent was thick, though not quite as thick as his stomach. "Anything I can do to help ya there?" "Do you have to power to regrow limbs?" I huff at him, my misplaced leg aching at the mention of it. "Are ya a lizard, my man? What's they called? Salamanders aren'ts they? They can regrow they limbs?" The seven seconds replayed through the officers eyes again as he contemplated whether his first assumptions about me where correct, but I could see it in his eyes when he reached the same conclusion as before. I smile at him, my tongue pushing through the gap in my teeth. I know what he sees, and I know he won't do anything. He decided that seven seconds ago. He ignores my rambling and knocks on the window of his patrol car. The window rolls down slowly, the other officer hesitantly eying me. He wasn't so convinced of my innocence. After a brief seven second conversation, a water bottle is passed through the window. The fat man walks back over to me and tosses the water bottle onto the ground. It lands where my leg should have been. "Thank you for your service." I want to throw the water bottle at his head. It takes me seven seconds to decide that the cons outweigh the pros. It takes another seven seconds for him to walk back to his car. Seven seconds to get in. Seven more seconds to get settled. And seven seconds before he drives away. Once the patrol car was out of site, I use my good leg to kick the water bottle back into the street. Bracing myself against the wall, I hop back into the alley. It's dark back here. I almost don't see the body until I'm right on top of it. It took me seven seconds. Sighing I run my finger along it's throat. "It only took you seven seconds to bleed out." I sighed loudly. "I could have killed 8 of you in the time that pointless interaction took.