Читать книгу The Hum - Ralph Anderson - Страница 5

He is a familiar sight around town. Everyone who lives here has seen him many times walking the streets carrying a large black trash bag filled with who knows what. Where is he going? Where does he live? Where is his family? What is wrong with him? He walks with a peculiar gait of someone with some unknown mental disorder. He takes exaggerated steps flailing his arms, wild eyed and talking out loud to no one. But he is harmless. People pity him. Drivers stop their cars allowing him to jaywalk across the street. Rumors are that he was hit by a car and suffered brain damage; that he is rich after a legal settlement. No one knows for sure. But that is the story.

He stops mid street causing a small back up of cars. But no drivers honk their horns. They are patient with him. He stares at the cars and the drivers and says loudly to them, to himself, to the air, “Do you hear it? Do you hear it? Do you hear it?” He then moves on, as do the drivers.