There was a certain peace that was resting on the room as John sat at the edge of the bed. The morning light was shining through the window, on to his chest as he thought about his life. He reached to his night stand and grabbed his pack of Camel 100s. As he sparked the paper mache, the smoke billowed out into the morning’s illumination. With each exhale, John coughed and struggled with the foreign substance in his lungs. The knuckles of his bones cracked and popped as he arose. His shuffling feet made their way to the bathroom where he readied himself for another day. The rest of his Tuesday was spent doing chores and watching television.
This is the story of John’s life. Every day that passed was no different than the previous. His skin grew more and more callous as he aged. Cracks and blisters painted his body ungracefully and he knew his life had become painfully long.
One day, as John stood in the lawn, holding a hose that was spraying water over each blade of grass, a child passed by on his bike. The boy couldn’t have been older than 7. He locked up the brakes on his Huffy and laid it down in the grass. For a moment, there was silence as the old man and the young boy stared at each other from each corner of the lawn. Piercing the silence, the boy asked “Why are you doing that?”
John Replied “The grass is thirsty, so I am giving it water”
The boy responded “Why?”
“It’s thirsty because it needs water just like us”
“Why?”
“Because that’s just how it is.”
“Why?”
John was rapidly growing annoyed. So he chose to simply remain silent. The boy looked fearless. His brown eyes were unwavering against the frail old man. “Who is your favorite baseball player?” shouted the boy. “There will be no greater player than Babe Ruth” said John boldly. Shaking his head, the boy rebutted “Manny Ramirez could kick Babe Ruth’s ass.” Smirking, John replied “Manny Ramirez does drugs, and you should watch your language.” As the afternoon progressed, the two continued to talk about baseball, video games and life in general. The laughed and cheered at each progressing discussion and felt like they had been buddies all along.
John had never experienced such a rush of emotion. He felt as if there was a new chance at interaction. That evening, he sat in his recliner with a grin on his face the size of a saucer. “Friends come in the most peculiar sizes and forms.” he thought to himself.
(to be continued…)
