Old man

Leaves fell across the pond, causing brief ripples towards the bank. Ducklings follow their mother into the water, and begin wading. A small elderly man sits upon a bench, holding his cane across his lap. Neither alive or dead, he’s reminiscing of his youth�"one may have mistaken him for stone. His watch shows the time, 4PM on a warm autumn day. The foliage across the horizon is a vibrant green and stinging yellow, as the sun leaves the sky a royal purple.

“It’s the miracle of God”, the old man mutters to himself as he slowly kicks his slippers across his toes. His greying skin bears the remnants of sun exposure, brown marks and stretch’s marks across his sinewy muscle. He reaches into a small shoulder bag, bringing out a handful of trail mix. He picks at it with his other hand, slowly bringing sunflowers seeds and mango pieces to his lips. His face beams, briefly, however so.

A young girl goes to the water’s edge and crouches in her white dress. She had lovely brown hair that was tucked behind her ears to keep it out of her eyes. She places her face against the water, and looks at her reflection. Her father watches her from a few feet behind, hoping not to ruin his work shoes. Not such a small sum of money was spent on these shoes, which he couldn’t of justified without his profession.

The duck flaps its wings at the young girl, and she recoils and screams. The back of her white dress is now covered in mud. Her father doesn’t care. She’s still crying as the father picks her up, and soothes her. “It’s okay”. The young girl hides her face in his blue-striped work-shirt. Her face is a mixture of fear and embarrassment, with small lines forming in her flushed, red cheeks.

The father carries her towards their SUV parked across the street, not paying heed to the small old gentleman picking at sunflower seeds. He drives off the road, creating exhaust fumes and damaging the environment. The old man laughs, having had enough for this day... he goes to move and realises that he cannot. Slow registration appears across his iron face, as he knows that it was his last day. As indeed he had passed away, eating sunflower seeds, on that sad waterpond bank... perched upon a benwch.