Anomaly

I was sick at the SD airport, congested and half-deaf, waiting for hours for my flight back to Chicago on Tuesday. Seeking some affordable juice i went to the airport bar and sat next to some 21-year old pseudo-punk. "Is this seat taken?" I asked. "Yes," she says, laughing. I move to the next seat and she grabs my arm and says "Just kidding". I sit next to her. I'm not interested in talking, the other seat had a rip in it. She wants to chat. I can sense it. She's clearly looking for some reason to chat.

"Excuse me," she says finally. "Do you know what 'animally' means?" I confess I don't. "See, I'm reading this book, and theres this word that I don't know and I can't continue reading unless I know what it means." She points at the book. It's some sort of Irish immigrant family overcoming something. Low rent Frank McCourt. I look at the word.

It says "anomaly".