It was going on 5:30. June laid in bed with her stomach growling; she hadn't eaten all day. Her spine was practically touching her belly button, but she didn't feel like getting up to eat. The empty refrigerator wasn't particularly encouraging, either.
"Damn," she thought aloud as she realized she would have to face the cold in order to eat. She slipped on her shoes and carefully made her way to the closet, making sure not to squish a roach on the bottom of her shoe. The mere thought of the frigid weather made her want to climb back in bed. Anyway, June grabbed her scarf and ten dollars from the modest stash she kept in the corner of her closet and made her way outside.
She hated being outside in the cold, let alone in the snow. So, she pulled the scarf tighter around her neck; the draft would be stronger between the buildings.
The back alley seemed narrower today, perhaps because it was almost completely dark. However, it wasn't long before her eyes adjusted to the lighting and she noticed the stark man coming from the opposite direction.
He wasn't particularly strange or eerie looking, but the fact that he was walking in the dark alley, seemingly aimlessly, coupled with the way his eyes wondered made her uneasy. As they approached each other, June clutched the pocket knife she kept in her pocket; she had seen too many dark-alleyway incidents in the movies. As they passed each other in silence, June held her breath. She didn't want to smell the smell that he probably possessed.
"God bless," he said when she was behind him and him behind her.
Her heart sunk to the soles of her shoes.
She emerged from the alleyway onto Polaski Ave. shaking her head. Being judgmental was one of her several vices. June pulled the knife out of her pocket and stared at it for a few seconds. She turned around. The man was making his way, slowly limping, out of the alley.
"Hey," she yelled down the alley.
The man's silhouette moved, jerkily, from side to side as he kept walking.
"Hey, are you hungry," June yelled.
The man turned around.
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Felix didn't sleep that night. He lay awake in his tunnel listening to the mice and rats mingle and the cold wind blowing past the entrance. At around five, Felix stood up and dizzily looked around his tunnel. He processed the events of the previous night, contemplating whether or not the mysterious man in the church was actually real. Felix shuffled out of his tunnel pulling his raggedy jacket closer to himself as he headed out to Rouse Blvd.
ReplyDeleteThe streets were empty this early in the morning, and as he plowed through the snow towards the deserted playground he wondered if he was the only one in town. When Felix arrived at the playground he wasn't surprised to find he was the only one there, he was still quite early. Felix stared into the perfect white snow that blanketed the ground, too new to be destroyed by footprints and sleds from children's play. Felix sat in a daze until he heard the light crunch of footsteps behind him. He turned and found standing with a smirk the man he had met in the church the night before. Felix didn't feel the need to say anything, but looked curiously at the brown paper bag the man held in his hands. The man sat down on the bench next to Felix, placed the bag on the ground, stood up, and left. Felix stared after the man as he disappeared into the sunrise, the light reflecting off the snow and blinding him momentarily.
Felix looked down at the bag for awhile, he then found himself picking up the bag and walking off towards the alley that led back the Rouse. As Felix made his way in a daze down the alley he noticed a woman approaching from the opposite direction. She tensed when she saw him and looked visibly nervous. Felix tried his best not to make any sudden movements and when they passed he whispered a soft greeting, then made his way hurriedly passed, not knowing what her reaction would be. Surprisingly, she turned to him and asked if he was hungry. Till that point Felix was not aware of his growing hunger, and looked back at the stranger with an affirmative look. The woman nodded understandingly and walked back towards him muttering softly about a diner up the street.
Felix sat in the warm diner looking around at the bright lights and comfortably decor. He stole a glace at the lady sitting across from him, not quite sure what he was supposed to do. A waitress appeared with two mugs of steaming coffee and a couple of menus. June, who only now mentioned her name to Felix, told him he could order anything he liked. Felix looked at the jumble of words on the plastic book with glazed eyes. June, understanding Felix's confusion told the waitress to bring them a couple plates of pancakes with some bacon on the side. Felix and June sat in silence until their food was ready than ate without a word. After June had paid the bill, they stood up and made their way out of the diner, each going their separate ways, Felix hadn't said a word to her, but gave her a look of thanks as he headed off towards his tunnel.
Felix didn't know how to react to the strange woman, no one had ever done something so nice for him, I mean sure there would be the occasional passer-by who would give him some spare change, but normally people were weary to spend more than a few seconds in his presence.
In the mist of all that had happened, Felix had completely forgotten about the mysterious man and the paper bag that Felix still grasped tightly in his hand. And when Felix returned to his tunnel, he sat down and opened the bag only to discover it contained a hand gun.