Tall Tale Tuesday is back. Hope you find this one thought-provoking. The generation gap isn't as wide as it may sometimes seem - especially at this time of year. I wish you all a very happy, peaceful Christmas holiday.
The Invisible Man
It’s December… again! And the madness has begun. He sits watching from his corner. The shoppers dashing by; the early party-goers intent on being merry; the children with a wistful look in their eyes. What will Santa bring this year?
Santa. It’s been a long time since Santa visited his door, that’s for sure. When was it? He must have been about five years old. Yea, that’s right. Five years old and all a life to live. Where had it gone? He remembered Santa had brought him a fire engine. Big, red and noisy. At least for a while. Till his dad had had enough and had taken the batteries out. There had been an argument, of course. He’d thought it was his fault for making a racket. But he’d learnt as the years went by that that it would have happened anyway. His dad was a very angry man.
‘Suppose he had reason to be’, he thought now. Lost his job, no money, five kids to feed. Not to mention the wife. Mum. Now, there was a woman who could make a meal out of nothing. Amazing, considering. But, of course, different times. No one had much of anything when he was growing up. Nothing to compare their lack of stuff to. Not like now when it was all smart phones and even smarter TVs. Ah well! He didn’t have to worry about such things now. He spent his days watching… and waiting.
Waiting for what?, he wondered. Waiting for what?
He liked watching people. No two were ever alike. They were all different. All with their stories. He loved imagining a story to match the face.
There. That lady with the purple coat and hair to match. She must have gone to the hairdressers and stayed too long under the dryer. What a fuss she must have kicked up. He chuckled to think.
Or that gent. Almost as old as himself. He was walking a dog. A toy poodle. They made an odd couple. He could just imagine the man being nagged into walking the pampered pooch. Just around the block. And him muttering under his breath all the way. He’d wanted to get a big dog, a manly dog, but nooo. T’was not to be.
Another chuckle.
It was getting dark now… and cold. The weather had turned in the last few days. Made his time of people watching more challenging. No-one tended to loiter on days like these. Smash and grab was the strategy of the average shopper when the temperatures plummeted. Thin-blooded. That was their problem. Not like him. No. He could spend hours just sitting, watching. Waiting…
Uh oh! This looked a bit like trouble. Three young lads, hoods up, were ambling up the street, clearly nothing to do. Too much time on their hands. He tried to blend in with the lengthening shadows. Too late. They’d seen him. He’d just have to pretend not to care, no matter what happened. They stopped just opposite him. They seemed to be discussing something, something important. There was a bit of a scuffle, some shoving and pushing.
‘Hey, mister?’, one of the lads broke away from the threesome.
He stared down at his own feet, hoping they’d all go away and leave him in peace.
‘Hey, mister!’ The voice was more determined now.
Slowly, he raised his eyes, preparing himself for the deluge of insults that would surely rain down on him. As long as they were only words, he’d be okay.
The young lad who’d spoken was standing just inches from him.
‘Hey, mister. You’ve been sitting there for an awful long time. We saw you there this morning. You reminded me of my granddad. He died last year. He liked to watch the world go by too.’ The boy’s voice trembled a little as he remembered. With a shake of his head, he seemed to dismiss the memories and he continued:
‘We were thinking… well, me and the lads were wondering if you’d mind if we sat here with you for a while. We brought some food. It’s nothing fancy. Just a burger, some chips. What’d you say?’ The boy was holding out a paper bag containing, no doubt, the said food.
The man looked into the boy’s smiling eyes and suddenly realised what he’d been waiting for all this time. He’d simply been waiting to be seen, really seen.
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