October

A man, a little girl, and a meeting...

     Autumn air cut sharply against my skin, chilling me even through my thick cotton jacket and fleece khaki colored scarf. I trudged through the city on foot, crinkling the crisp leaves under my feet without care, and whistling a jingle I had heard on the TV while eating my breakfast that morning. Life was no more than a daily routine, a continuous pattern of walking, working, and whistling while doing both.  

     In this typical large-scale city, it wasn’t hard for life to become droll, unattractive. Though cities are not the concrete jungles portrayed by many artists and overly melodramatic writers, when you live alone in a one-bedroom apartment near the outskirts of town, acquiring a pessimistic attitude might not be so uncommon after all. At first, city life can be wild, sporadic, and an adventure, but living off minimum wage with too many bills to pay and not enough money in the bank to pay them, it becomes more of a chore.

Life is a game, twisted at times. It jerks you around giving you knew perspective, leads you down paths to dead ends to teach you lessons you’d best learn. My Life had become a pattern, every day identical, and each more normal than the last.

 Fortunately, Life is capable of changing and sometimes, Life decides to throw events at you when you least expect it. Life doesn’t care if you’re ready or not, it just wants you to be there.

Believe me. You will in fact be there at that specific moment whether you like it or not.

“Hello, Mister.”

I stopped in my path and turned on my heels to face whoever had spoken to me. Someone had interrupted my daily ritual of walking to my workplace.

A girl, no older than nine, sat alone on a white park bench

“Hello?” I asked, half-agitated, half-curious.

“Ummm…..n...nice weather...w...we’re having.” The girl stuttered back at me. She twisted her hands together nervously, folding them and twiddling her thumbs. Her feet dangled, rocking back and forth in a metronome like fashion.

“What do you want?” I asked exasperated after checking my watch to discover I was running a little late.

“Can you sit with me for awhile?” she replied quickly as I turned to leave, “Daddy said he’d be back soon, but it’s lonely and he’s been gone an awful long time.”

The little girl buried her face into her gray scarf, her face flushing. Her chestnut colored hair curled in, framing her now rosy cheeks and she had sparkling innocent eyes. Those eyes were of a rare variety that our world often seems to be void of at times.

To be frank, I found that small child to be adorable, no questions asked.  Her innocence stole my heart before it could manage another beat.

 

I’ve discovered very recently that you can’t judge a person without going beyond their exterior, diving under their skin, and streamlining it to their soul. Only then can you say you know someone enough to determine whether they’re rotted to the core or the next one to be put up for sainthood after they pass away onto wherever their religion permits. However, looking back at that day, that little girl was pure angel, and you could tell by one glance, no soul searching needed.

 

“My name’s Addie Marie.” She said meekly holding out her tiny hand.

With that, I promptly sat myself besides her ignoring the fact I was fifteen minutes behind schedule. What harm could come out of waiting for a bit to make sure no one kidnapped the little kid? The city wasn’t the safest place for a little kid to be alone after all, even if it was in a public park with many viable witnesses. I made it up in my mind to give Addie’s father a stern talking to when he returned.

 

“I’m Riley.” I told her holding out my hand to meet hers. A handshake proceeded after, and we laughed. Before I knew it, the two of us were talking like old friends.

“How old are you?” Addie asked me after we had warmed up to each other a bit.

“Nineteen,” I replied, “and you?”

“Ten and three days.”

“Well, happy late birthday!” I exclaimed laughing.

“Thanks.” She said softly. Addie clutched her scarf again, tossing the ends playfully. She seemed to be lost in thought, away in some sort of fantasy world. She finally came to her senses, looked back at me peculiarly, and continued. “So...where were you going before I stopped you?”

“Work.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you late now because of me?”

“No, well,” I mumbled trying to deemphasize my remark, “Yeah, I am late, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I’ll just call in sick and my boss won’t mind.”

“What do you do at your job?” Addie asked chipper. She appeared to have a way of constantly changing the subject whenever the outcome wasn’t pleasant.

“I deliver things.” I stated.

“What kinds of things?” she questioned.

“You know…” I said nonchalantly, “simple stuff like packages, letters and of course the occasional pizza here and there.”

“You’re a mailman?” She replied with a raised eyebrow. Addie fought back her laughter.

“I prefer parcel delivery specialist.”

“Are you sure you’re not a pizza delivery guy in denial?” Addie asked giggling finally letting loose.

“I am positive!” I said in a tone of sarcastic reassurance.

She raised her other eyebrow and smirked at me. It was apparent that she was onto my sarcasm. What started out as a serious became no more than a joke, kind of like my excuse for a life.

“Oh really?”

“Come on!” I exclaimed,” I went through nine years of basic studies and four years of advanced training to get this job.”

“So you did bare minimum.”

“So what if I did?” I snapped, “I went through more years of school than you have I bet.”

“I’m ten though.” She said earnestly, still smirking and looking back at me with wide eyes.

“Touché.”

At this time, a gentle breeze blew by sweeping up the piles leaves around us and throwing them pell-mell around the park. My stomach growled loudly and thus it drew me to my digital watch. It was already noon.

“Where exactly did your dad go, Addie?” I questioned the ten-year-old.

“What are you talking about?” she shot back at me.

“Your father,” I said slowly, “You said you were waiting for him here and so I sat with you so you weren’t alone.”

“Are you sure that’s why you sat down here?” She looked at me with her eyes on fire. She maintained her permanent grin.

 

I stared back at her, puzzled, my mind racing fast, racing for answers. What did she mean that I sat down for reasons other than helping her out? She had asked me to after and out of the goodness of my heart, I had obliged to miss a day’s pay and risk making my time bomb of a boss furious with me. I didn’t have sick days left; I’d used them all on days I had felt too lazy to get out of bed.      

    

“Sometimes,” a familiar voice echoed in my head, “Things don’t happen because you want them to, or because you gave them permission to happen. Things happen to us because they need to, Riley.  It’s called fate.”

“You’re not waiting for your dad, are you, Addie?” I said.

Addie giggled childishly, once again burying her face in her scarf. She shook her head from side to side.

I stared at her.

“So what are you doing here then? Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“I’m waiting.” She said dreamily, “And I don’t go to school anymore. I graduated from high school.”

“You’re waiting for what?” I asked, “And there’s no possible way you are a high school graduate.”

“I’m waiting for you. You know why.” Addie replied, “As for the matter of my age, believe what you want. Things are not as they appear in meetings such as these. You should’ve learned that by now.”

I once again racked my poor, abused brain for answers. This time there was no luck and there were no helpful hints from the voice of my best friend in my head.

“I have no idea what you’re rambling about.”

“That’s a shame.” She replied forlornly. She began to waltz away, picking up different colored leaves as she went and collecting them in her jacket pocket. She brushed past me.

I was in a daze.

Something about Addie seemed hauntingly familiar. I knew I had met her once somewhere, but I could not remember where or why. Perhaps we’d even known each other well. I looked up at the autumn leaves dancing in the breeze to distract myself. I just had to remember; it seemed more important than ever that I actually use my brain.

 

“Reed?” I whispered.

“Now you’re thinking.” Addie giggled.

I unconsciously reached into the pocket of my coat. I felt something round and cold. I held it in my hand, my arm stretched in front of me.

“A bell?” I murmured to myself.

I turned around.

“Wait!” I called out to Addie, “Who are you really?”

Alas, she was already long gone.

“There’s not much time left.” Reed’s voice echoed in my head.

There was an empty silence throughout the park and people young and old alike turned to stare.

I ran.

Author's Note

Critique is much welcomed and appreciated...I'm looking to improve all aspects of my writing!

Reviews

[Sharkapillar]

Oh my gosh finish it you can't leave me hanging YOU CANT.

[Jukebox]

This is very well written. I think it will turn out marvelously at the rate you are heading. The direction that it is going in so far intrigues me. Let me know as soon as you have more written. I can't wait to satisfy my curiosity! =]

[Hans von Lieven]

Sorry dear. The story is almost unreadable. Could you pleAse go back and change the typeface and the size in the editor. It is not difficult to do. Let me know when you have done this and I will review your chapter.

Hans von Lieven