There's a strange man who stands at the street corner. Every day, when I'm playing on the playground, he stares out at the lake. He stares for minutes at a time, like he cannot focus on anything but the shimmering blue water and the distant temple on the island in the middle of the lake.
The man could not be more than twenty, but his blue eyes look solemn, like something awful happened to him on the rocky shores.
I watch him quietly and secretly while I play with my brothers. Because, even though I am only nine, I wonder what could possibly make someone so sad.
Once, I get up the courage to talk to him.
My brothers and I are playing hide-and-go-seek, and I volunteer to be 'it'. While they go and hide, I slip up to stand beside the strange man. I tug on his brown jacket sleeve and he tears his gaze away from the lake. The man crouches down to my eye level.
"Why are you sad?" I ask.
The man is silent for a few moments, like he is testing why he should tell a scrawny blonde nine year old the answer to that particular question.
"What gives you the impression that I am sad?" he replies.
Answering a question with a question. Clever.
"Because every day you stare out at the lake, like something bad happened there." I say. I must hurry this along; my brothers with begin to get suspicious soon. The man sighs in defeat.
"I lost a friend. A long time ago. You remind me of him. Secretly clever. And blonde," The man brushes a hand through his ebony hair and chuckles, like he's thinking of someone who once made him happy. It's only then that I notice that the man's clear blue eyes seem old, like he'd seen the world and he was weighed down with painful memories.
"Do you think you'll ever find your friend?" I ask.
"An old acquaintance of mine told me I would." The man replies.
I smile at the man. Suddenly, I want so badly for this man to find the person who made his seemingly melancholy nature turn smiling and utterly happy.
"I hope you find him, then."
The man returns my smile.
"Thank you." The man says to me. He looks at the lake one last time, and silently walks away.
I call out at the last second, "What should I call you?"
The man stops and turns, grinning.
"Emrys."
He disappears around a corner.
Finally I turn around and find all of my brothers starting towards me.
"So much for the finding part of the game. Good going," One of my brothers punches me in the shoulder. I roll my blue eyes.
Mother comes over, hollering, "Percy, Leon, Blaine, stop yelling at your brother."
Mother walks over to me and grips my shoulders.
"Arthur, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. I got this idea in one of my classes today and wrote it down as fast as I could. :) And yes, Blaine is supposed to be Gwaine. :D Reviews are much appreciated!