Scenes from Life

The old odd man sitting at the bank smiled.He has been sitting there for hours and barely moved a muscle.All he did was looking at the Picture between his fingers. I was doing laundry  downstairs when I first saw him through the basement window . I thought he was dead at the beginning. His face was pale,lined and it was impossible to figure out whether he was sad or happy. He was totally locked to what he was holding until that moment when he smiled out of the blue. It was a smile that could not be explained, literally; I wouldn’t be able to explain the majesty of that smile. He smiled as if the years’ pain and agony ended on that specific moment.God knows why, he looked up to sky and started weeping then.He kept smiling as the tears found their way down to his thick lips.He wiped the tears with his right hand as he still looked up. I remembered a quotation from a book I once read ; 

“Keep looking up, keep looking up after it rains…”

Is there a rainbow coming up for this old man? I hoped so…

My hands are still shaking, not because of Parkinson this time.It has been 3 days since she has passed away.My wife.The doctor’s words are stil ringing on my ears; “I’m sorry sir, we were not able to…”. I have lost my senses that second;“This is the end!”, I thought. How would I live without her?But here I am, sound and still; or  am I really? On my hand is the last Picture of her taken at the hospital. She was happy that day; the treatment worked, finally she was getting better. But death catches us when it is unexpected, when we are vulnerable… Looking at her Picture, I remembered how she mocked me that day; “ Grandpa” she called me. “ Don’t ever loose this charming smile of yours “ she added. I was able to hold my tears by then but now I can’t. “ I know that you are up there somewhere honey. I know you are watching me now , longing for me. Don’t mind my tears, they are tears of happiness. Hopefully we are going to be together soon, sooner than you expect.I will keep looking up to the sky and smile until then…” 

 

“ The scream of my childhood stil echoes,

Chasing me my whole life…

Dreams locked up in dungeons

Begging for a piece of chance…”

a.r.k.

These lines took me far away everytime I read … It’s not my childhood it had evoked, I don’t have bad memories of my childhood either.  It’s my son it reminded me of. He is just 1 years old, still an infant indeed but building his future is one of my major  concerns  already. As my mind was full of these jibberish ideas I realised this weirdo looking up to sky and smiling meaninglessly.” What a lunatic!" I thought." Does every man lose his mind after a certain age?I hope not. " I completely forgot why I came to the park- to read a little bit and relax- since this "grandpa" distracted me... I couldn't hold myself from looking up to sky too to check if there was something special or unusual but there was nothing. He was just crazy.

I suddenly realised that something was wrong.Most of the people around were staring at me as if I was an alien,I was indeed. I moved my eyes down, "time to go!" I whispered. The eyes were still on me as I stood up and walked down the road. I saw a handsome gentleman in his thirties at the corner bench next to the park entrance. He was holding a familiar book; very familiar indeed, my book- Scenes from Life,A.R.K.-. "What for an irony... " I thought. For many years millions of people in this country read my books, quoted my words,studied my philosophy but now one of my readers was looking at me with pity...Disgust was all over his face.Hopefully he will finish my book and learn to have sympathy for the others...I smiled to him as I passed, because "a smile is a blessing."I smiled as I walked into the dark streets and got lost...

" Smile 

Smile to them people

Smile 

Overcome the tackle

Smile

Coz it's a blessing

Smile

Defeat the trouble " 

a.r.k.

THE END

Author's Note

Please pm for suggestions , corrections... Constructive cricism is welcomed.

Reviews

[Arrinae]

This piece leaves me quite speechless. It may be short, but it gets to your readers with the ease of a hot knife through butter. It is well written. Though I prefer to read in third person rather than first, it would be worth to read over and over again. Well done.

[TL Boehm]

this is a deep write - it aches and breathes with loss and with melancholy - death coming for us when we are vulnerable. WOW.
Well done.