The Old Man

A woman has a mysterious conversation with an old man that brought some insight to her life...

Saturday morning. 9:00 A.M. The alarm goes off. She awakens with a heavy heart and puffy eyes. The night before was spent with a bottle of Patron and a blunt and a half. Her tolerance was never high, but last night she aspired to forget all of her earthly problems. She got off the bed as smoothly as she could so she wouldn't awaken him. The shower was nice and hot to sooth her aching muscles. As the water beat upon her back she pondered about how she would make it through today. Exercising was something she hadn't given a second thought in years, but today seemed like an appropriate time to go for a jog around the park. She got out of the shower and caught a glimpse of her naked body in the mirror and quickly looked away. Nothing disgusted her more than seeing the fat of her tummy jiggling or the dents in her a*s and thighs. Hurriedly she dried off and pulled on her all black jumpsuit and running shoes. She brushed her hair back into her signature ponytail and brushed her teeth before heading back into the bedroom.

Grabbing her phone and earbuds off of the nightstand she looked at him in his peaceful slumber and contemplated giving him a kiss on his cheek before leaving. She shook the thought out of her head knowing that would only awaken him. She was not prepared for the rude words of discouragement or the accusatory questions that would surely come. She grabbed a pen and paper and scribbled a quick note before she grabbed a banana and headed out the door. Before she started her pre-jog stretches, she popped in her earbuds and found her favorite station on Pandora: Lauryn Hill. The first song that played brightened up her mood immediately. It was Lauryn's song entitled Can't Take My Eyes Off of You. Then off she went, jogging the two blocks it took to make it to the park. She completed three laps around the walking trail before stopping at a water fountain for a drink. Feeling quite exhausted from an apparent lack of recent exercise she walked over to a nearby bench to rest for a while. The sun was shining so beautifully and the temperature was a cool 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

The park was surprisingly busy for that time of the morning. On one end was a little league baseball team having their first practice of the season. On the playground was a group of mommy friends with their adorable children laughing heartily. She smiled at the children thinking how lucky they were to still be at such and innocent stage in life. Then she spotted the old man coming her way. He looked to be about 70 years old and was led by a guide-dog. He reached the bench and sat down right beside her and smiled. She couldn't help but wonder if he knew she was there or if he was just smiling at the joy of a new day. "It's a very nice day to be at the park don't you think?", said the old man. Trying to hide the shock so evident in her voice she responded, "Yes sir, it is quite lovely." "Would you like to hear a story my dear," started the old man, "I think you will find it to be very interesting." She thought for a moment before saying, "Sure, why not? I have some time to spare." With much excitement the old man said, "Wonderful! Let's get started.".....

There was once a young woman who had the kindest heart

of anyone I had ever known. If you were having a bad day,

just the sight of her could brighten your day. Even if she was

down to her last she would still help someone she felt was having

a harder time than she was. No matter what she was doing or if

she had personal plans, if she was needed by her family or

friends she would drop everything to help. She did so much for the

people she loved and even for strangers and she thought she was

doing the right thing. One day the young woman had a sudden spout

of bad luck and began to have severe chest pains. She was terrified

and began calling everyone she knew, but to her dismay, not one

person answered when she called. The next day her neighbor came

over to give her some mail that was wrongly delivered. When she

got no answer, the neighbor used the spare key to let herself in 

to leave the young woman's mail on her table. When she opened the

door she was horrified to find the young woman lying on the floor

with no pulse. It turned out the young woman had suffered from

a heart attack which she could have survived if she had made it

to the hospital in sufficient time. On the day of her funeral the

only person who had any free time to make it there was the pastor

presiding over the ceremony. The End....

In disbelief she stared at the old man for at least five minutes. She said to him, "No disrespect sir, but I thought the story was going to be interesting. Quite frankly, that story was horrific!" He smiled ever so slightly and responded, "Well my dear, if you found the ending of my story  so horrific, what would you do to change the outcome Desta?" Now she was truly terrified and confused. How could this blind man she had never met before in her life know exactly who she was or the struggles in her life? "Who the hell are you and how do you know who I am??!!" she exclaimed. In the calmest voice she had ever heard he said, "I am no more than that inner feeling in your heart that make you who you are. That feeling that most think they feel for someone special, but have never truly felt. That feeling inside of you, Desta, that causes you to be there for everyone in your life even when they let you down. That feeling that could be your downfall just like the young woman. So my question to you again is what are you going to do to change your outcome?" Then as calmly as he had entered into her world, he walked away as she sat on the bench with tears in her eyes....

Author's Note

If anyone would care to share, I would love to know what interpretations everyone has about who/what the old man may represent and why they think Desta responded to the old man the way she did. I know it is not perfect, but I do hope you enjoyed it.

Reviews

[Inject Positivity]

Spectacular! Wow! I find the cleverness of the story is astounding. How delicately you've pointed out to her what she was dealing within herself, and to be honest when the old man started the story, I was quite excited to listen to it, because as you have built up scene where the main character is trying to look for a change.

I think Desta's response was appropriate because the way and unknown person, who is even blind, comes to her and invites her in a story that contains the same situation Desta was going through... I really enjoyed the write...

Sincerely
Dhiman

[Chantal Z]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate your feedback.