Just something I wrote

[Bibsley]

There was this one guy, and he was walking the pavement of a city street, head down a little bit, looking a little purposeful. It was quite a nice street as streets in this city in the morning go, but this guy wasn?t thinking much about the street and how nice it was, the street could just as soon go take a running jump as far as it concerned him. The guy was kind of short, kind of chubby, and kind of nondescript ? you could look at him maybe once or twice, and you wouldn?t remember a whole lot about him. This guy was one of those guys you always read about in books or see on TV or whatever; he was a guy who had always wanted something in his life to make him a bit different, a bit special, you know? He?d never had a real proper girlfriend, nor had a successful job, nor met anyone to convince him that everyone else wasn?t a big jerk anyways, so where?s the harm in being a jerk yourself if it means other people start to think about you as anything other than just some guy? He wasn?t necessarily a bad guy ? if some people wanted to look at him for being such a nice guy, then sure, he?d be nice to everyone ? but when it came to it, he didn?t care all that much for other people, after all, what had they ever cared about him? Thing is about this guy, no matter how purposefully he walked, he wasn?t kidding anyone. He had no purpose.

So, walking along the street, as he was, not thinking about much ? he wasn?t a guy to think about a whole lot, except maybe what?s going on right in front of him, and at the moment that was nothing, so he was just walking along, with his mind mostly empty. And he spots this girl, just out of the corner of his eye, you know, because he was walking with his down. This girl probably isn?t a girl who, if he just saw a photo of her, he?d think was all that great, pretty, yeah, but nothing special in this city, where broads a whole lot sexier than this one who?ll do anything for you are to be found fifty on every block. But the thing about this girl, just looking all relaxed there leaning against a post there with the sun just poking itself round here a little there, is that, in this moment, for some reason, she?s the most beautiful thing he?s seen in all his life. He?s not a guy to appreciate beauty all that much, but this one makes him stop there for a full few seconds, just looking out of the corner of his eye. This girl is about average height for a girl; a little shorter than him, and she?s got this wonderful brown, kind of long hair into which everything around melts. The guy doesn?t see whether the hair is straight or curly, because it doesn?t matter, and then she?s got this face that?s just so pure, so innocent, with these deep blue eyes just wandering about, not looking at much in particular. And it?s just the way she?s standing there, with the light of the sun all around her, and somehow it?s like she transcends all that?s around her: this street, this city, this world. This guy is not a guy who?s ever thought about anything transcending anything before, he probably doesn?t even know what the word means, but for some reason that?s all changed. This girl is special.

So he goes over to her.

?Hey there, who you waiting for?? he says, and for a moment she ignores him. After a couple of seconds she looks at him, and smiles this smile, a smile made of some force that doesn?t much exist around this city. She doesn?t say anything, so he says hi again and she smiles again, only this time she waves as well, a cute li?l wave.

?You waiting for someone?? he says, and she shakes her head and smiles to herself, like this is some sort of game.

?You don?t say much, huh?? and she shakes her head again, exactly the same, only this time there is no smile, and the smiles from before are now nothing but memories, swallowed up by some other force that you get all around this city.

?You don?t talk to strangers, then?? says this guy, who by now is thinking that she?s a whole lot sexier than he first thought, especially now the sun?s moved round and is coming through that tree rather than all round the girl. This time the girl makes no signal, she just stands and looks sad, and the guy is suddenly brought of all the thoughts he was having about how pure she is and all, because that troubled look, coming from her, has broken him out of it. And they stand there, looking at each other, just like that, with her looking interested, but mostly sad, and with him looking at her, trying to make out what?s going on with her. And then he sees it, sees it just from looking at her mouth, and he can?t believe he hadn?t realised before: she can?t talk. He?d heard about these people, seen them on TV programmes. Mute, he thought they might be called, but he?d never really believed they existed until now, when he was standing in front of this girl, and she couldn?t talk, she could only signal, and look, letting her eyes wander. And she must be deaf as well, he realised, but she can read lips, and that?s why she ignored me that first time. She smiled, again, her eyes starting to dart around now he was done figuring. The guy likes the way her eyes are darting around like that.

And then the guy sees the girl?s eyes stop and look at something just behind him, and he gets a tap on the shoulder, and turns round to see this guy, a big guy, looking a little mean.

?What you tryin? a pull, buster?? asks the new guy.

?Nothin?, I was just talking to this girl here. You got a problem??

?Yeah, I got a problem. You wanna go some here??

?Hey, what are you, this girl?s keeper? She can talk to me if she wants.?

?I?m her brother, and she wouldn?t talk to you, even if she could, so you can just about take a hike, and not come near her again, you dig??

And the first guy just stands there, just stand there and stares, mouth wide open. And this other guy pushes him in the chest, more of a punch than a push, so he stumbles back a bit, and then goes to just standing there again. The other guy puts his arm round his sister, and they just walk off, like that, with his arm around her shoulders. As they walk off, she turns around and looks back, for the last time, and then her brother puts his hand on her head and turns it back so it?s facing away again. And all that can be seen of her is her hair. Her curly hair. Faceless.

The guy stands there for a moment or two more, trying to think about it all, but then he realises that the people passing him are staring at him, just standing there in his own. He realises that she?s gone forever, anyway, and that just because some freak girl smiled at him, it doesn?t matter, so what?s the use in thinking about any of it? So he hunches his shoulders, turns around, and walks off in the opposite direction. That wasn?t the direction he was going in before he saw the girl, but that doesn?t matter. He had no purpose.

Strongly influenced by Evan Hunter

I'm new here, by the way. And I would like of course lots of feedback.

[Uncle Joe]

Yes, I see the Evan Hunter influence.

A sad little story. The guy almost found purpose, then he let it slip away so carelessly.

Reminds us that certain opportunities (like special relationships, even love) rarely come along and should be realized and treasured.

If the story is autobiographical I hope you've taken that lesson from it. If it is not, I apologize for assuming so.

Well written. Thank you.