above /əˈbəv/

“What’s up?” they say to me. What’s up. I’ve never understood the point of this question. I think perhaps it means, “Hey there. I see you and feel the need to acknowledge you but I can’t think of an intelligent question, so… what’s up?”

I glance upward on this occasion. “Ceiling tiles,” I say. “and lighting tubes… wires and pipes. The third floor...”

“I see,” says the dull man.

“Clouds, helicopters, man-made satellites…”

“Okay, I get it.”

“The moon, asteroids, Pluto, the starship Enterprise, Chewbacca… Hey, where you going?”