I was taking an evening walk, enjoying the cool, Autumn breeze which had blessed the day. Children were riding their bikes, the smell of charcoal and burgers filled the air. The atmosphere was filled with the leisurely enjoyment that only Autumn could bring.
As I walked, I spotted Mr. Mcbee, also enjoying an evening walk. Mr. Mcbee was old. In fact, he was an old man when I was a child; he was even old when my father was a child. I had presumed that he was dead, for it had been so many years since I last saw him, yet there he was, enjoying the evening air.
Things changed when Mr. Mcbee was around. The children were no longer laughing, but just looking at each other with a sort of contempt. The smell of the burgers became the unpleasant odor of charred meat. The laughter and good humor of the blue-collar get-togethers lowered to but a murmur.
"Good evening," Mr Mcbee said to me, "it's been a while!" The fact that the old man even remembered me, made me feel uneasy, and a bit self-conscious. "Hello, Mr. Mcbee," I said, "you look well." He did, in fact, look very well...better than he should at his age. He seemed as if he could live another 100 years.
"Come with me," said Mr. Mcbee, "and see my hats." For some unknown reason, I couldn't resist the old man's request. I followed him to his house, and he opened a walk-in closet, which was full of various hats. There were hats of all kinds in his closet, a very impressive collection indeed. There were white hats, tall hats, small hats, a Jewish Shtreniel, a Greek fisherman hat, an Arab Keffiyeh, you name it, he had it. All of his hats, however, had a peculiar feature. On the front of every single one of them, there was a large, red X. Something disturbed me about that.
"What do you think?" Asked Mr. Mcbee. "It's...quite impressive." I replied. Upon one of the shelves, now collecting dust, was the black hat that Mr. Mcbee wore during my father's time, and next to it, was the Mexican Sombrero that he wore when I was a child.
He walked to one side of the closet, and with his back to me, he picked up a hat, and said, "This has always been one of my favorites. I have worn it several times throughout my long life, but I never could wear it full time, because of my interest in several of the others...but now, I think I can wear it all of the time...at least until I grow tired of it." He turned around to reveal that he was holding a hat, which was colored like a rainbow, and like all of the rest, it had a large, red X on the front of it. He put on the hat, and his face looked invigorated. It was then that I realized, that I was right. He could very well live at least another 100 years.
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