Page 136 - Musings 2020

“Excuse me?” I asked.
“It really seemed like you just got dumped. Don't worry, you'll find a better lass.”
“That's…. not wha …”

“Oh my bad! We're a modern society now. You'll find a nice young man who'll be better than
whoever just left you.”, he interjected.

“ Is this old man making fun of me?” I thought, my eyes narrowing. “Don’t worry, I’m not
gay,” I replied, pissed.
“Nothing to worry about even if you were one. It’s perfectly natural to have such feelings.
The heart wants what it wants.” The old man said, using his left hand to pat my shoulder.
“OK, stop! Thank you for being so annoyingly caring. I was not dumped by ANYONE!”, I
said through gritted teeth.
“Ah, I understand now, I’m sorry.”, he said, looking regretful.
“Thank you!”, I said, rolling my eyes. “Now, if you-”
“Just be frugal for some time, you’ll get another job soon.”

“GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Not just the kids playing soccer, but everyone within a 100 metre radius turned to look at me.
The curious ones slowly proceeded towards me while the rest just watched from where they
were.

“You shouldn’t scream like that in public, young man.”
“This is all your fault; you, senile old idiot.”, I hissed through gritted teeth, incredibly
self-conscious and embarrassed.
“Is everything okay, Mr. Hudson?”, said a mustached middle-aged man, eyeing me
suspiciously. A small crowd of people had already gathered around me.
“Yes, yes, everything is alright. It’s just that this young man here is just going through very
hard times, losing his job and whatnot.”, said the old man, addressing the crowd calmly.
“Oh, that’s so tragic. He must be devastated.”, said a lady somewhere in the crowd.
“It’s not…. I’m not….” I began, sheepishly, as a flurry of pity and encouraging comments
headed towards me from all directions.
“Poor soul.”
“Hang in there!”
“We will let you play soccer with us, uncle.”

* “Wait, was that?” * I thought, but the voice got lost almost immediately.

“You've still got a lot of years to live.”
“Smile and it'll be okay.”
“Don't worry, life always gives second chances.”
“It's okay…. hope for the best…...these things happen…. you’re a strong kid…….”. All the
words from every direction started mixing and swirling into one single cacophony.

“I…. stop…… I'm not…… it's…. wait…...stop…. stop…”, I tried to muster up my words but
I felt so embarrassed and overwhelmed. I felt delirious as if that cacophony was a lullaby.

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