Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Man Next Door

He is the kind who turns his porch light off on Halloween. The children wouldn't go there even in daylight anyway. The wailing cats sound too much like Hansel in a cauldron.

Once he had to ask his neighbour for help to reset the circuit breaker. He was so annoyed with himself for being needy. Yet he was disappointed when the neighbour did not check in on him the next day.

Days later, they finally do cross paths. He whips out a five-year-old letter from his wallet - a testimony to his 30 years of service before being let go. He mimes that he can only find work as a sweeper or cleaner. There is also a black-and-white photo in the wallet of a young man, happy and without any scars on his face.