Adventurous George

Compass in hand, George arose from his throne, put on his hoody, and grabbing a peanut butter sandwich headed out the door. It was a beautiful sunny day and he was going for a walk. He waved to the neighbour next door as his legs found their freedom and took on a peaceful pace. He was heading east today, he usually headed west in his outings that being where his shopping places loomed and he knew his way around, but today he felt a dash of recklessness. As he headed along the long and less used secondary route into the heart of the more industrial part of this vast city of millions he became mesmerized by the store fronts and old warehouses and the alleys between them and the clutter on the ground and the people all with some purpose or another engaging in profound activities. George kept on walking.

He came to an intriguing intersection with the cross street having many small and interesting shops. George took out his compass. Yes, he would head north. As he hiked on, he became enthralled at the goings on inside these shops with the open doors. He would stand and gaze for a moment in amazement at the busy people bustling about, each utterly involved in their own little endeavours. He could just not fathom it, why all these people could be so involved in so many things incomprehensible. Yes, everyone needed to buy food and clothes, but all this busyness, this was overwhelming. Why weren't at least some of them just sitting back and relaxing and taking in all the sights and sounds and smells? George realized his legs were getting tired as he eyed a little bench and sat down. Oh, that felt good.

A youngish woman came by and giving George a quizzical look asked him if he'd mind some company as she seated herself uprightly near him. George being somewhat surprised that anyone here would take the time to sit and relax a while was gladdened by this. “Why is everyone here so busy, no one seems to have time to sit and think?” She gave him an even more quizzical look and laughed “I suppose they're all just trying to make a living or look for bargains, you're not out shopping?” George had not even thought about buying anything answered “Oh no, I'm just out for a walk today.” The youngish woman looked at him sincerely “Would you have an extra dollar, I'm really hungry?” George had not brought any cash, just his old bank card, but he suddenly remembered his peanut butter sandwich and pulling it out of his hoody pouch he offered her half. The woman accepted it and they sat together eating their peanut butter sandwich but she kept glancing at George with a coy smile which made him really nervous, but when she finished her half she got up and gave George a big kiss on the cheek and went merrily on her way. George was happy and thought she must be a good person after all.

George took out his compass because he had become a little disoriented with all this human contact, and as he found north once more he headed on up the street. Ever since his accident he'd had a hard time remembering directions. That's why his worker had brought him the compass and showed him how to use it, and if he paid attention to it, it really helped. George walked on into the afternoon. He saw a huge crowd up ahead and was very drawn as to what it could be about, and as he drew closer he could hear chanting which went something like “Take no shit, take no orders, no more banks and no more borders.” Well, George had developed some pretty strong views on banks and borders while sitting on his throne and this captivated him. As he approached the crowd someone stuck a placard in his hands and he was sucked into the confusion. George managed to stay on his feet in the turmoil but became completely disoriented and the only thing which gave him any steadfastness was his sign which he held high in the air.

The crowd seemed to stutter a moment as sirens began screaming coming closer from the distance. Then it was total vengeance. Fists rose in the air, voices screamed in anarchy. George was beside himself. He screamed too, “No more banks, no more borders.” Time had eclipsed, darkness was falling, the crowd was a riot, glass was breaking, smoke was bellowing.

(To be continued)