taykair
Active Member
Traveller's Tale
by
Michael L. Dalton
(Taykair)
- - -
Disclaimer
The following is a work of fiction.
Any resemblance to persons, living or dead
(or anywhere in between),
is purely coincidental.
- - -
Part One
Changes
"All appears to change when we change."
- Henri-Frederic Amiel
- - -
Chapter One
There Was A Little Boy (1964)
I spent the first six years of my life in a little house on Main Street. I was little. The house was little. The town was little. It was a happy little town. A happy little home. And I was a happy little boy.by
Michael L. Dalton
(Taykair)
- - -
Disclaimer
The following is a work of fiction.
Any resemblance to persons, living or dead
(or anywhere in between),
is purely coincidental.
- - -
Part One
Changes
"All appears to change when we change."
- Henri-Frederic Amiel
- - -
Chapter One
There Was A Little Boy (1964)
Things change.
Some changes are slow. Gradual. You wake up one day and realize that things have changed, but you're not sure when - or how - it all happened. Other changes happen suddenly. They leave you bewildered. Lost. Trying in vain not only to grasp what has happened, but also futilely trying to undo the change, or pretending the whole thing never took place.
The following is the story of a sudden change:
When I was five years old, my best friend was the boy who lived in the little house next to ours. His name was Bobby. Although he was a little boy, too, I didn't see him that way. To me, Bobby was practically a grownup.
He was seven.
I followed him around as if he was the Messiah and I was a disciple. I was astounded that a grownup like Bobby would even bother to hang around a little kid like me.
But hang around he did. We'd spend hours playing together. We'd play construction workers with our little toy trucks and our little plastic shovels and buckets which we kept from the time our families went to the beach together that summer. We'd play until my Gramma said, "Boys, ya'll stop diggin' up my yard."
Then we'd go to Bobby's yard and dig until Bobby's Ma told us the same thing.
We'd play Soldiers, and Cowboys and Indians, and sometimes Bobby would try to teach me how to play checkers, but I didn't really understand the rules of the game, and I'd get mad and quit, but Bobby never got mad at me.
"You'll learn to play when you get older," he told me. "I'll teach you."
The best game, though, the best game of all, was when we'd get The Box.
Across the street from our little houses, and about half a block down the street, there was a furniture store. Every so often, Bobby and his Dad would walk over there and come back with one of those great big boxes which once held an oven or a refrigerator or some other big thing. Bobby and I would play inside the box for hours at a time, pretending we were in a submarine, or a castle, or a spaceship. We'd play in the box until we tore it up, or until the rain made it too soggy to play in, or until Bobby's Ma would tell his Dad, "David, get that nasty old box out of my yard." So Bobby's Dad would put the torn up bits of cardboard in the bed of his pickup and take them to the dump.
A couple of weeks later, though, Bobby's Dad would bring us another box, and Bobby and I would once again be sailing underneath the ocean or flying to the moon.
One day, after I was getting mad again because I couldn't play checkers, I said, "Bobby, when's your Dad gonna get another box?"
"I dunno," he said. "I'll ask him when he gets home tonight."
"Why don't you and me go get a box?" I asked. "I bet we both could carry it back."
Thus do changes begin.
We walked down the sidewalk until we were across the street from the store. I started to go, but Bobby said, "Wait. You gotta look both ways first. You wanna get run'd over?" He took my hand, and I looked up at him as he stood there, looking up the street and down, making sure it was safe.
'He's such a grownup,' I thought. 'He's so smart. I probably would get run'd over if it wasn't for him."
We walked quickly across the street, and went around to the back end of the store, to the place where Boxes were kept.
"There's a big one," I pointed. "Do you think we can carry it back?"
"Sure," he said. "Let's get it!" He pushed the box over and lifted one side, "Grab the other end."
A voice called out from the back door of the store, "What are you boys doing there?" It was old Mr. Ferguson who ran the store. I almost peed in my pants.
"Just getting a box, Mr. Ferguson," said Bobby. "Like me and my Dad do."
"Where's your daddy, Bobby?" Mr. Ferguson asked.
"He's at work right now."
"Well, alright then. But you boys take care now."
"Yes, sir. We'll be careful. Thank you."
Wow. What a grownup Bobby was! He wasn't scared at all. He could talk to grownups without peeing his pants.
We slowly moved back around, to the front of the store, carrying away our prize. I dropped my end once, but quickly picked it up again. We stood there, on the other side of the road from Bobby's house, with our treasure between us.
"Okay," he said. There ain't no cars. Grab your end and let's go. And be careful."
I lifted my end up and we started across the street.
That's really all I remember about it. I heard a loud noise. I heard a woman screaming. Then things got all fuzzy and went black.
When I woke up, I was lying on the sidewalk. My head hurt. I saw Bobby's Ma holding Bobby in her arms. His eyes were closed, and he wasn't moving. Bobby's Ma was crying, and saying his name over and over. My Gramma was running toward us.
"Lord, have mercy!" she was screaming. "Oh dear Lord, have mercy!"
When I asked Gramma later about what had happened to Bobby, she told me that Bobby had gone to be with the Lord. I asked her if I could go and be with the Lord too, so I could play with Bobby, but Gramma said no. She said that I would see Bobby again one day, but not for a long time.
That's when I started to cry. It just wasn't fair. Bobby said that he was going to teach me how to play checkers.
So much for sudden change.