Michaelishious - Vol. 2018

Dec. 17: Taxi

Author's note: In this imagine, Michael is not famous. Nor is his family. I am also fully aware that they were Jehovah's witnesses, and that they didn't celebrate Christmas. But in this imagine, they are a completely normal, working class family, that does celebrate Christmas.

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It was almost dark, when the eighty seven year old lady, slowly tiptoed down the icy street from the grocery store. She was only a tiny shadow of the woman she was in her earlier years, but she held her head up high, and walked with dignity in her every step. Her long and beautiful hair was now diminished into a tight knot in her neck, and instead of a warm brown color, it now had all the different shades of grey.

She sighed when she felt the weight of the groceries in her arms, and her muscles were already shaking a little, from the heavy load of milk, butter, honey and bread. Why did she have to buy that much anyway? But then again, it was Christmas only once a year, wasn't it? And she really wanted to make those cookies that she knew Bobby loved. She knew perfectly well that a cat shouldn't be having that kind of food, so she kept it at a minimum. But tomorrow, the day was all about her, and her loyal, furry friend; Bobcat, or Bobby in the daily.

She huffed sharply as she put the two bags down on the ground, and the fog from her breath embraced her face like a cold and soggy cloud, that disappeared as soon as she drew another breath. It would've been so much easier, if she could just walk home, like she used to do. But after her hip replacement, she never quite got back to her old self, and that was why she was standing in line to get the next cab home. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long.

The cab driver stepped out, after parking in front of her, and hurried around the rear end of the car to pick up her grocery bags. He was irritated, and not in the mood for either smiling or talking, but he did both anyway. Just before he arrived, he hung up on his boss, who was angry at him because of some papers that were missing. And he had been ordered to work late, even though he had specifically asked to have this evening off, to celebrate his wife's birthday. It really didn't help that the Christmas traffic was jam-packed, and everyone was aggravated and loud, either. He hadn't received one genuine smile since he dropped off his kids at school this morning. Not until he took the two paper bags from the old lady, and helped her into the warmth of the car.

It seemed like politeness was taken for granted nowadays. Everybody took it for granted that he was the one to be nice and smiling towards them, and never the other way around. But this tiny, old lady was different.

"Thank you kindly, young man," she said, with tired, but honest eyes, that where adorably surrounded by pale, wrinkly skin. It almost looked like the deep lines were rays from the sun, and made her eyes sparkle, even though she was old. And he couldn't help but to giggle his soft, high pitched laughter.

"Oh... Thank you, ma'am, but it's been a while since I belonged in that category."

He winked at her, and closed the passenger door, after making sure she was well seated. Then he hurried back to his own side, and prepared for the next destination.

"Gosh, it's cold today," he exclaimed, while rubbing his hands together in front of the heater. And one of his long, black curls danced in front of his eyes. He noticed the lady studying him, and suddenly felt a bit self conscious, so he quickly asked for her address.

"1257 Cadbury Lane."

"Oh. That's a nice place," the driver said with another of his signature smiles, plotted the information in on the computer, and put the car into drive.

"I haven't been there in a long time."

"About time, then," the old lady said with a warm, little laugh. But when it died away, she got curious.