A young boy with sandy coloured hair paused at the side of the road close to where an old man was sitting. The bag over his shoulder hung half empty and his paper round was almost over. It was his first day on the round and he wasn't quite sure how fast he needed to be getting home. All the same, he spared a moment to look out over the lake towards the island where the old man was looking also.
"Something interesting out there?" he asked, wondering why the old man was sat in the damp grass. He looked so old, much older than the boy's grandpa who was in a rest home. Maybe this old man should be too.
The old man gave a little laugh and seemed to start out of a day dream.
"Who knows kid, who knows?"
The boy wasn't exactly sure what the old man meant by this but he was intrigued by this elderly figure and waited for a moment. His paper round could wait.
"What's your name?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Merlin," the man replied gruffly.
"Like the legend?" the boy responded excitedly, "with King Arthur and the Knights and everything?"
"That's the one," Merlin responded something hidden in his voice.
He looked up at the boy for the first time. "What's the date?" he asked.
The boy dug in his sack, pulled out one of the paper and handed it to Merlin. As he did so, he glanced at his watch and realised he needed to be hurrying on or he'd be late for school.
He almost missed what Merlin said next.
"It would be his birthday," he murmured quietly with a sigh.
"Who's?" the boy asked, but he was already starting to walk.
"Oh," Merlin responded, giving a small shrug, "someone I used to know."
"Gotta go," the young boy called back, breaking into a jog. "See you around!"
"I'll be here," Merlin replied, but the boy was already off down the lane. "I'll be here," he repeated with a sigh before getting up, brushing himself down and setting off down the lane.