This Old Man

part one

This old man, saw him once, walking silently down the street. And then he looked up, and our eyes met. Then my world came falling next.

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Hi, there! Thanks for joining me at this time. I know you must be very sedulous and have many things to do but please bear with me.

I have no time for introductions and other formalities as I am hiding and I fear I could make too much noise. I wish I could say that I am safe but even inside my house he seems to be after me.

Who is he, you ask?

I will tell you with all honesty that I do not know, but it might help you understand this whole story better if I jump to the very beginning.

*

It wasn't a weird day or a special day or anything of the sort, there was no feeling in my gut telling me to be careful, or warning me that something might happen. To me, it was just another day. I was tired. No, I was exhausted from being at school the whole day, and the walk home was doing me no favor.

I passed by the old coffee shop to get myself a nice warm drink and set back on my journey home from school. The streets were oddly quiet, and not a lot of people walked by. I must admit the sun was beginning to set, most people you'd see were either joggers or arriving home from school or work.

Yet, there was an old man. He reminded me of somebody's grandfather. The one that gave you hard candy and told you long stories about his time fighting in wars. His physique was great though. He was old, sure. But he was well conserved for what ever age I assumed him to have at the time.

This old man wasn't like the rest of us walking in the streets. He wasn't arriving home from work—and admittedly not school—and he wasn't jogging. And that drew my attention to him.

He must've noticed me staring because he looked up. Directly at me and stared at me dead in the eyes.

I had thought him to be a cuddly, sweet grandpa but I saw something different in his eyes. Something twisted and malevolent.

Of course, I did what any person would. I dropped my head and hurried home.