The Invisible

The Invisible - Part 1

I take another bite from the apple. The juice trickles down my chin, dripping on my shirt.  They say the stolen apples taste sweeter. Honestly I wouldn't know the difference. I no longer remember how the other apples taste. I eat only the stolen kind. 

I've been stealing my food for quite some time. 

I remember the first time like yesterday. I was at the town market, hungry as hell. I walked up to the first food stall I spotted. An old man selling sausages and roast chicken. I told him I wanted to buy sausages. He ignored me. I showed him the coin in my hand but he didn't even look. I got tired of waiting,  grabbed a plate and filled it with sausages. He still ignored me. "Hey!" I said, "If you won't take my coin, it's on you!" 

He didn't seem to mind so I walked away, just like that. He didn't bother to scream. Townsfolk didn't warn him about a thief, either. No one gave a damn. It was all kinds of wrong.

That was when I realized I was invisible.   

I didn't want to accept it at first. I waved my arms, jumped up and down, yelled on top of my lungs. Tried everything under the sun to get attention, to no avail. No one saw me, my screams went unheard.

I was still invisible the next day. And the next. Might as well make the best of it. 

It was great fun at first. I walked around the market, taking stuff right under the vendors' noses. Even the expensive things like silk shirts and daggers with jeweled hilts. The kind of things I could never afford.  I would take anything I wanted and walk away, in broad daylight. I would laugh like a madman as I walked past the city guards with my hands full of stolen goods. 

After a while I got bored of this game. One day I walked into the manor of a rich man and stole a bag of gold. Boy was it such a thrill. 

The next day I went for a bigger heist and robbed a jeweler. Folk started talking about a mysterious thief. Word spreads like wildfire in small towns. It didn't take long before everyone installed bigger, tougher locks on their doors. They walked in fear, holding onto their purses, their eyes darting here and there with suspicion. Some of them slept with knives under their pillows. I know for a fact cause I watched them do it. I followed them into their houses just for the hell of it. To see their faces when they'd realize they were still getting robbed, triple locks and all.

 They hired more guards and doubled the patrols but none of it made a difference. In just a few days I became the richest one in town. Though the joy didn't last long. You can't be wealthy when no one can see you.  All that gold was worthless in my hands. So I returned everything I'd stolen. Everything except the clothes on my back. I'd tossed my ragged clothes when I stole the new ones.

Thieves would give anything for an hour of invisibility. When it's for a lifetime it's another matter. I always struggled to make ends meet. But now all the wealth in the world meant nothing. The irony of it was beyond words. 

So now I steal only what I need, if you can even call it stealing. One meal is not going to hurt a food vendor. The clothing merchant will hardly miss a shirt.  In my book, I'm no thief. I'd pay if I could, after all. Actually I even tried that for a while. 

I decided to earn my coin and went around doing chores for the townsfolk. I swept the floors, folded the garments, washed the dishes, taking a coin or two for my trouble. That too lost its appeal in short order. It was pointless to do all that hard work when no one appreciated it. It came to a point where I'd take a heartfelt thanks rather than coin. Being invisible does that to you.

 I felt like the shoemaker's little elves. Except I wanted to be seen. So I quit like they did -for the opposite reasons. Oh the irony. 

I set out to go to the big city hoping for a better life. 

There is a lot more people there, a constant stream of them.  No one sees the others when they walk in hurried steps, trapped in their endless rat race. As the saying goes everyone is invisible in big cities. I reckoned I'd feel less lonely in such a place.

****

I finish eating my apple and grab a chicken leg from another stall. I stand in the busiest market square, munching on the chicken leg and watching the people. I took  to lingering at busy places after I became invisible. I liked being the unseen watcher. I also picked up the habit of wearing outrageous clothes. Here I am, wearing a bright motley shirt covered in sequins, ridiculous trousers with green and pink stripes, with a white ruffle skirt over them. My shoes are even more ridiculous, bright red with white dots. The brass crown set with false gems completes my costume. I could also be naked but the costume is more fun. Even though no one sees it.

I take another bite from the chicken leg, wondering how the folk would react if they saw my costume.... And I see the pale green eyes staring right at me. A small tabby cat. I'm not invisible anymore!  

"Hey, do you see me?" I yell at the young woman shopping for scarves. She doesn't hear. I'm still invisible.  Except for the cat. It comes closer, lifts up its head and meows at me. I squat down and stroke the furry little head. Yes, the cat definitely sees me. I had no idea. There were no stray cats in the small towns. 

I toss the rest of the chicken leg at the cat and watch him devour it, bones and all. My head is buzzing with the sudden flood of what-ifs. I wonder if the cat is a glitch. I must find out if there's someone out there who can see me.

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