Stepping into the street, Oscar put his hand over his brow to block out the noon sun. Immediately the silence struck him. Where were the sounds of the cars and the buses? Where were the sirens? Only the sound of a paper flapping against the building behind him broke up the wind.
Oscar called out, "Hello?"
Did he believe it? There didn't seem to be anyone anywhere. Did it work? He'd have to find out. He walked down the block to the deli and peered in. The store seemed empty. He tried the door and found it unlocked. Oscar grinned and helped himself to a piece of sharp cheddar, and then some ham. Satiated, he decided to go see if he could catch a movie.
The streets were easy to walk with no traffic to wait for, no tide of people to fight against. He did realize, though, there might not be anyone to run the projector. That should be fine. He had a rough idea of how projectors worked. Oscar assumed he could figure out how to get the show started once he got in there.
In the lobby he smashed a display and helped himself to some mints and Sour straws. After grabbing a fountain drink on the way to projector room, Oscar ran into his first obstacle; the projector room was locked. He tried tugging on the door, and then kicking it, but it wouldn't budge. He sat down his loot and went to rummage for some keys. He tried behind the ticket taker podium, and then behind the snack bar. He tried the box office to no avail. The manager's office was also locked.
Oscar realized he should have included "to do what I want" along with his wish that everyone would just leave him alone.