Short stories

Handyman Peter

The chair installed before the huge bay window was a little his paradise since the last fifteen years. Nobody had tried to take it away from him. Even the staff. So he spent all his time looking out the window, speaking with nobody in the common room. Anyway, nobody wanted to talk to him. Nobody dared approach him. He frightened everyone. And not only by his unkempt appearance. Because of what he had done. He never had any visits. Outside of his “domain”, people preferred to forget his existence.

With reasons…

Eyes on a tree that moved with the wind near the bay window, Peter returned to his memories. It happened to him a few times to get back in time. He liked to hear the laughter of children. He was once the idol of a whole generation! A real DIY pro! And it was all due to chance. He was cleaning in a television studio and one day, he enjoyed tinkering stuff on the worktop after hour’s production. But he had forgotten his work at the studio. Producers had put their hands on it. Of course, they asked everyone, even him. And one day he was caught. He expected to lose his job. Yes, he slightly mocked the TV show produced by the studio. On the contrary! Producers had filmed one of his “performance” live and they just loved it! They now wanted to make him a star!

And he became “Handyman Peter” for children. He taught them how to fix simple things without using their parents’ tools. Or even how to make them a gift. Being very clever with his hands, he loved what he was doing now. He took advantage of his talent. Then, there was an impressive merchandising campaign to promote his show and his character. But he didn’t really agree with the producers. He wasn’t a “character”. His joie de vivre and good humor came to him naturally. He wasn’t like those mascots for children who were content to cash their checks at the end of their performance. He really loved children. Peter still had a twinge of heart when he saw for the first time a lunch box with his face on it. His popularity grew in importance with children.

Except that he had to get back to reality rather quickly. As the years passed, fewer children were interested in him. Viewership dropped quickly. Producers didn’t see really the interest of keeping the show on the air. The advent of the Internet made virtually all other media obsolete. Peter returned to the real world with children had just grown and his “reign” would soon end. Of course, he refused to let it happen. But nobody really gave him the choice. The producers got to the studio and waited for the end of the recording to tell him the sad news: his contract wouldn’t be renewed and that the show would be taken off the air by the end of the week. He also lost his job. Producers won’t give him back his former job as superintendent. The blow was very hard to take. Why did they do such a thing to him?

A hand was gently put on his shoulder. He barely looked up. He already knew who was behind him. Mary, the young nurse, was virtually the only one who didn’t fear him. She smiled at him, telling him he had a visitor. He frowned. Nobody came to visit him. She slowly pushed the chair to the parlor where she moved him to a table.

“He’ll be here in a moment.”

He looked at her.

“Who?”

She smiled at him before walking away. He looked at her for a moment, wondering why she hadn’t answered his question. Everyone he once knew had denied him for a long time. Who could kindly visit him in this place? In addition, he didn’t know anyone. He waited patiently, having nothing else to do. A tall, thin young man entered the parlor. He hesitated before approaching him. He took a step in his direction before reaching his hand, a faint smile on his lips.

“You… you are… Peter Barton?”

He raised a tired look to his young visitor.

“Who wants to know?”