It Was Imagination I Know

Music to Accompany the Story...

It Was Fascination I Know 


Yesterday, still a block from the train station, I heard a distant announcement for the outbound train, alerting me to eight more minutes before my inbound ride... time enough to walk an extra neighborhood block. I crossed the tracks to the sidewalk falling two houses behind a boy with no calves, wearing a red backpack, a dark hoodie, board shorts, black socks and high tops. Probably hearing my foot steps, he turned around, peered at me, turned front and began to march. His arms swung and knees lifted.  Hup two three four, hup two three four.

His arm movement changed. His right hand caught a strap from his back pack, his left grabbed one on the other side, both arms and straps stretched taut. His step and arm movements became a wooden, marionette soldier. 

He turned around again. Apparently noticing that the distance between us had closed, he dropped the straps and ran two more houses. He vaguely stopped as he approached the corner at Hazel Street and walked into the intersection. A 10-foot hedge blocked my view of traffic. My breath caught as the boy leapt like a cat, straight up and landed facing into the street. His feet fell ninja-wide apart. He stretched his arms and again taut at his side. The hood of an blue-grey Pontiac rolled into view and halted a few feet in front of the boy.

The child stared down the driver while his hands, palms splayed forward, motioned to back down the car. It didn't move. The man behind the wheel took a swig from a travel mug. The boy spied me, narrowed his eyes at the car, jumped high to land once again facing the sidewalk and took off at a run. I lost sight of him a minute or so later when I climbed up the stairs to the platform.  

So creative... so oddly wonderful, I would love to have a peak into this boy's inner-life. I hope there is an adult who will nurture it.