|
|
|
|
Fifteen minutes after the last bell rang, Elizabeth Moon walked home from school. She wore white socks with a plaid dress. Her light pink puffy coat was unzipped and a small backpack hung loosely behind her.
She watched as some of the other kids walked in groups, laughing and running, talking loudly and smiling. Part of her wished she had more friends, but mostly she was glad to be alone. Her younger brother, Preston, would start kindergarten next year. Maybe then she'd have someone to walk home with. She stopped in front of the old Toad's Hollow City building. One of her teachers said it was now a water treatment facility, but it still had the old logo centered on a freestanding brick wall. That's where she saw the thin man. He looked more like a cartoon than a real person, casually leaning his backside on the edge of the podium. His arms were folded and his gaze looked down at his feet. Elizabeth knew he was watching her from the corner of his eye. The smile on his face was wicked, yet innocent like a child's. His face suddenly turned towards hers. "Hello, there." He said, smiling. Elizabeth froze. Her instincts told her to run back to school but she couldn't move. She knew he would pounce on her if she ran. A group of kids walked around Elizabeth and past the thin man. He watched them go by, tenderly amused. He even reached out a thin, pointy hand in front of the smaller one and laughed as the boy passed right through it. None of the kids took any notice. It was as if he wasn't really there. It was as if she wasn't even there. "Are you going to walk by?" he asked, casually. "I won't put my hand out if you do." Elizabeth was still afraid. Mere seconds passed but it felt like she stood there a lifetime. "Who are you?" she asked. "The Thin Man." he said. "That's usually what they call me." He raised his eyebrows in a friendly way. Elizabeth tried to read his face. Was it genuine or mean? She couldn't tell. "This is an evil place, Elizabeth." He continued. "There are things here even I couldn't imagine." He clasped his hands together and let them hang down in front of him. "Know what I mean?" Elizabeth felt like she would cry. For the first time in her young life, someone else understood. Even if it was a weird, invisible, cartoon man, he was the only person, or thing, to verbalize what Elizabeth had always known. At that moment, she knew he wouldn't give her the fake smile and dismissal every other person did. He would know the clown was real, and the scarecrow, and the spider babies, and the big fish in the ditch. "Yes, I know." She said out loud. And, to be safe, she asked, "Are you one of them?" The thin man tilted his head and smiled a little wider. "I hope not." He answered. Then he disappeared.
C. Jake Cordova
|
|