עידן ירוק / Stroll in Darkness #2 |
""I'm not from around here, sorry", I said with an apologetic shrug. He in turn made a silent 'O' shape with his mouth and simply drove off. I shrugged against myself, making my long hair fall from my shoulders to my back. I liked it long, unlike the modern trend. Perhaps I should have told him that from the beginning, it was a lengthy talk for him just to ask for directions. Then again perhaps he wasn't really interested in directions; who knows. "Hi!" He sure seemed glad to see me. He had brown eyes, brown short hair and was talking loudly at me from behind his half screened down car window. "Hey man." "You know you look really familiar", he made a pointing motion with his hand, as if just recalled something. I gave an unfathomable half smile. "Not many people around here this time of night." My watch showed somewhere between two and three AM. He gave a chuckle while trying to look for another opener. "Well, you do. Maybe it's the color of your hair, it's unusual." I gave that half-smile again without answering. "Yeah, I think I saw you with that old dude, the one who likes walking with those old style detective hats?" He formed it as a question but his facial expressions showed he thought it was funny. My mouth remained an expressionless thin line. "Well, anyway", he seemed at a loss but not as if about to give up, "Know any good drinking places around here?" "Yeah. The Groom's not too far up the main road. There's plenty of parking space." "Unlike most of this town, eh?" He was trying to be funny again, I just nodded. "Wanna join?" I shook my head. "Alright, anyway, do you know where's the registration office?" "I'm not from around here, sorry." I probably should have, his last question showed he had lost interest, but it was my fault he thought I was from around here, I did know of a small Irish pub in a moderately big city. The place is close to my apartment, but I'll elaborate another time. My point is I'm new in this city. I failed to mention it before, but I've come here after graduation and rented a place I liked; second floor, not off mainstreet, by a small park and far from my former work place. In fact, I'm not even from this state. Do you know the feeling of being in a complete strange place, which isn't even faintly similar to your home town? The different culture makes you at a loss at where to go, while differences in construction and small changes in basic traffic signs make it hard to navigate. But at least everyone drives at the right lane. When I first landed, I was shocked; I didn't know what a taxi looks like. The first few days have been spent in a hotel which had a relative equal look as my home state. Searching for an apartment was hazardous as I didn't know whether the salesmen were trying to trick me. My looks didn't help either - short, thin and with longer hair. Then I moved in, and began exploring my surroundings. At first, I barely knew the way from the grocery store to my house and to the hotel I first stayed in. However, I'm a person who can live without knowing the whole map which I am a part of, or at least most of it. Albeit the oddities I've mentioned before, I've learned the layout, but that wasn't enough. The streets and roads were laid easily, but at every corner I took I was afraid I will stumble into a place I will not recognize and lose my way forever. Almost like walking into a fantasy gateway which doesn't lead back. But by now, I'm fairly familiar with it all. What I'm getting at is one of the interesting discoveries I had while first exploring the places. It was a bit before midnight and I just got back from work (a rare evening shift). I laid my coat and bag aside, took a quick shower, bundled my hair in a ponytail as it was a hot night and went out. There were some teenagers smoking weed near the entrance to my building. As I've already met them once and proved to them I'm stronger than them albeit my stature, I shooed them off. I decided to take a right turn and head towards mainstreet, then head north at one of the pedestrian malls. You must understand the layout before I'll explain further: Mainstreet is a long road, from east to west, at both exits from the city to the highway. There are neither northern nor southward exits; however, all the north and south exits from mainstreet are smaller roads, bicycle roads, subway stations and more pedestrian malls than most cities in the state. They are all oblong shaped and parallel to each other. This certain walk was one of the westernmost streets, Hare street. At first entering the place, what I expected did not meet my eye. There were no shops or booths in which people sold market merchandise, but homes, coffee-shops, one high-school and a private doctor's office. It was amusing, really, because the walk seemed the regular type; not too fancy, not too poor, very bourgeois, yet I knew from experience these places were not cheap, quite a catch if you got one on time. One of the coffee-shops was open, and I was delighted. It had a small restaurant-style hall inside and a porch with some tables and chairs for couples. I sat down on the porch immediately and ordered something to keep me going after the long evening shift. The waitress was cute and smiled at me like she cared, brought me my drink and forgot all about me. I sat cross-legged, staring at the empty and dark street. There were almost no trees, which I thought wasn't so good, but the air was clean, other than the coffee smell. I could hear no sirens or breaking glass; it felt like a suburb in the middle of town. I was feeling like an observer at a French street somewhere in Paris; it was such a picturesque scene. Then, like thunder in cloudless skies, although it was as loud as I make it out to be, the street filled with action. A group of people came through from the way I came from, chanting quietly with soothing voices. They were all dressed in white robes, which reflected against the dark brown aura of the street so wildly, and had all shaven heads. On their feet they wore simple brown sandals, all of which made them look like weird monks. I gave half a smile and enjoyed my coffee again. The shop's crew didn't seem to be bothered by them at all. After about thirty minutes of watching them, they began scattering around the street in front of the shop, one of them coming strait towards the shop. He entered the shop, smiling at the bartender and ordering his usual by the look of it. The bartender gave it to him, he paid and the bright monk came outside. I could now see that his face was pleasant and his lips formed in a constant smile, faint and simple. His light blue, almost grey, eyes met mine as I was the only one outside. He approached and asked whether he can sit. I shrugged a little. Once he sat I couldn't help but ask "So, what exactly is it you do?" He broadened his smile, apprehending I'm a newcomer. "Ah, that is a very good question." He didn't add to it and sipped from his own glass of what seemed to be a cold drink. "What, you don't know?" "Oh I do, I do. How come I do not if I'm doing it?" I crooked my eyebrows at that and he laughed lightly. "Don't worry, I'm not going to be cryptic. We are church-men." "Church-men? You mean priests? Should I call you father, or..." he smiled again at my loss. "No, just church-men. We volunteer to patrol the streets and keep off hassles." "How do you do that?" "By looking like we do. By singing softly, so we don't wake anyone. People say it is soothing and we got no complaints so far, so I guess no one has any trouble with it." I nodded slowly, and then negated it by asking "And that... helps?" I couldn't stop the skepticism from flowing into the question. He laughed, quite amused. "Apparently it does", he said with a tone of finality, as if not wanting to divulge into that. We both finished our drinks quietly and said good-bye later. I nodded slowly, trying to apprehend, but I don't think I did. I think I should try moving there, although my land-lord will be angered. Those church-men seemed to have brought peace to that neighborhood, which was a picture of serenity anyhow, quiet, interesting and efficient altogether. I'll let you know if I do. |
היצירה לעיל הנה בדיונית וכל קשר בינה ובין המציאות הנו מקרי בהחלט. אין צוות האתר ו/או הנהלת האתר אחראים לנזק, אבדן, אי נוחות, עגמת נפש וכיו''ב תוצאות, ישירות או עקיפות, שייגרמו לך או לכל צד שלישי בשל מסרים שיפורסמו ביצירות, שהנם באחריות היוצר בלבד. |
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