The Old Man

by Jesse David

  The people at the beach are happy, some for them go here as a pass time and some go here for holiday. They enjoy what they are doing here but only do it for a couple of days in a year because that is how you supposed to live in these days. You are supposed to enjoy life a couple of days per year. And work your ass of for the rest of the year or spend your free time watching TV.

  The old man just looks to them. He starts to daydream, he doesn't know where this comes from, sometimes there are just moments that the universe talks to you and then you wake up. The universe talks to you by unconscious day dreaming.

  "Hey old man, watch where you going." A guy that sunbathing said.

  "Sorry," the old man said. "My mind slips away."

  "Better get your head check before something happens."

  Mushy holds the old man's shoulder. "Do not mind him. Let's go somewhere less crowdy. The shore is pretty big."

  When they get to some place that has less people and much quieter they start getting pebbles. They are having a contest on whose pebbles will go farther. The kid, the man and the old man. The stages of life. We should always play. Let's not forget who we are before we have worked and priorities. Laughing makes us more human. At this point, the old man saw the outside world. He sees the dark side of our society. Finding who his past maybe has a price. The old man is like a kid. His mind is open up by the society.

  Chapter 23

  It became a sensation. An old senile man is wandering in the different state, well that what news are telling. Mostly news is over rated. They are sugar coating things to make it appealing to people.

  The news interprets him as an old madman on the loose, which should be an old man that doesn't know what he is doing and on the loose.

  Well, this is how sometimes news work. They are adding and removing information and presto, we have news.

  So don't believe on what the TV says. In this age that is information. It is not a problem to find the information. The problem is identifying which information is correct.

  The news spread in interstate. He will be famous after this. He is like the old person in movie RED. He does incredible thing by himself.

  ***

  They all agree they should go somewhere else. Nothing happens on the beach, but maybe they are near to something. He is closer to where he wants to be.

  They arrive at some fast food to eat their lunch. After eating, they start walking around town. Maybe something might trigger his memory. Nothing is significant to the old man.

  But one thing grabs his attention. A lot of people are on the open ground, sitting on mono block chairs. There is a stage that seems to be built earlier this day and a person who's talking.

  "Another preacher." The old man said to Ram.

  "I don't think so. He is more… Much worse based on its appearance." Ram said.

  "Don't be that judge mental." The old man said. "Let's get near."

  This man seems to have a different aura. Well, this happens when you look at the person and you feel something is different but technically, he is fine. He has a good haircut, good clothes, good shoes and good smile. But something is off. Sometimes our instincts kick in and tell us that this guy funny, or kind, or bad.

  That guy upstage, the feeling of the old man on that person is that he is bad.

  "What do you think gramps?" Ram said.

  "Let's hear first what he is talking about."

  Then a round of applause from the people

  "I am here to declare my formal candidacy to be the governor of our state. Some politician chooses a better venue, but I am here in front of you in this crowd because I do not believe that thing is going help me as a governor.

  "I believe that this is the correct way of telling the people. Not the glamorous way. Because it will never help anyone in the state."

  The trio finds the seat on the back. "You see Ram, he is a good person. I told you."

  "What does your instinct tells you? What does your conscience tells tell you?" Ram said.

  "But listen to what he says." The old man said.

  "Words can be deceiving," Ram said.

  They listen again to the person in the stage.

  "If I win the election, I will make sure that everyone will have their insurance, shelter, and food. There would be jobs for everyone. I know it’s hard but I will do my best to do this with the first 2 quarters if I win."

  Then the old man seems to understand, the looks of this people, the smile on their face when they hear it. The entire person here seems to be homeless. They are having a new hope because of this person.

  "They are all homeless." The old man said.

  "Yes, that is why they believe in that person," Ram said.

  "It looks like that guy is giving hope to this people. You see. He is here to help."

  "Sometimes it is false hope."

  After the speech, he asks everyone to fall in line. He will be giving free groceries to everyone. Every time he gives a bag of groceries, he will tell to the person "Just remember to vote for me. I will make these two bags."

  The old man thought that this is a pretty weird way to promote himself. He is giving promises to people. When everyone has one and everyone is going home or somewhere, 5 luxurious vehicles arrives. A pretty woman is walking near him. The woman has a towel. The first thing he does is he runs his hand on the towel. The woman is continuously pouring alcohol to the towel.

  "Seem the running for governor is allergic to poor people. I mean dirt or dust." Ram said.

  "Don't say that Ram."

  "I am only telling what I saw," Ram said. "Try to ask for help. Try if that guy will help you find your memory."

  "Ok, I'll try."

  They go near to the man in the stage. But before they get near for a few meters, 5 buff men in suit shows up. This people stop them but the old man screams "Hey, I need help. You said earlier you can help."

  With the wave of the hand of the candidate for governor, the 5 buff men give way.

  "Give me a grocery bag." The governor said the woman.

  "I need help, can you help me?" The old man said.

  "Yes, here is a grocery bag."

  The old man refuses to take it.

  "I know you can help me. I want to remember, I forgot my past."

  "You mean amnesia."

  "Yes."

  "Take this bag old man. Then we smile and you go on. You are taking too much attention. A lot of people are now watching."

  The governor asks for another bag. He forces the old man to take it. Then the people start clapping.

  "Take the old man somewhere, like a nursing home or anywhere."

  Chapter 24

  The old man runs away. The guards don’t even try to follow him. They just laugh when it runs away.

  "I told you gramps. Don't believe on what your eyes are seeing." Ram said.

  The old man is catching his breath in the shade of tree. While he breathes, he hears something, like a TV without any channel. A continues to beep.

  Then his whole world shakes. He falls down to his knees. All he can feel is his heart beating. Then he becomes fine. The pain goes away. For him, it feels like a distant dream it feels like it never happens.

  For him, it feels like it happen for an hour but then he notice. The governor is walking to his car with all his men. Then he concluded that this all happen for only a matter of seconds or minute. 5 minutes will be too much.

  "I guess we need to go." The old man said.

  They just walk back to the car without a sound.

  "Want me to drive gramps?" Mushy asked.

  "No, I can manage." The old man said.

  They drive without a destination. The old man drives like a drunken person who forgets everything. He drives like he is on drug. His vision is foggy. It seems he forgot what he saw at every turn.

  The suburban view became the woods. The busy traffic turns to a vacant road. He is driving faster and he doesn't notice that his foot is getting heavy become faster.


  The old man's vision is flicker while he drives. The objects colors shifts, it seems that his vision is a television that changes the channel for every second. He checks the rearview mirror and Ram aren't there. He checks the shotgun ride and Mushy is not there.

  He hit the brake so hard. The car skid and it is going to the opposite side of the road.

  The old man's heart beats like a monster. He looks again and he saw that Mushy and Ram is still in the car. They are looking to each other.

  "Ok, I will drive safely. I'm not feeling well." The old man said.

  He drives by stepping the gas for around 3 seconds then releasing it. He thinks he makes the car run slowly but the truth is. The car is running awkward. It goes on for an hour. He sleeps dream while driving.

  After a while, the car stops. He steps on the gas and release it. It seems to become a muscle memory. He just does the thing over and over until Mushy speaks, "Hey old man, we are not moving."

  The old man steps on the gas but the car isn't moving. He steps on it again and he finds that the car's engine is quite.

  He turns the keys to ignition, nothing happened. He does it again and again until his day dream again.

  "Stop it old man. This car is not working. Maybe we can ask for help somewhere" Mushy said.

  "Huh?" The old man said. Actually, he hears it he just wants to be sure on what Mushy has said.

  "This jeep isn't going anywhere. Let's find some help."

  The old man, Mushy, and Ram is now walking beside the road. The trees beside the road are soothing. The old man just looks above while walking. A headache earlier seems to be affecting him. His daydreams easily without him noticing, his consciousness might slip away.

  The old man has his suitcase, some water, and food. Ram passed the old man. This makes the old man awake again. The old man saw Ram running into the woods. It seems to be that there is always a trail going in the woods. The road is not cemented, but the trail is fine, there's no root in its ways.

  The old man follows Ram. He does his best to follow Ram. The old man stop, he notices that Ram is gone but he found something else. He found a cabin in the woods. And he thinks that Ram might be inside, so he goes inside.

  The old man's head starts pounding again. This is much more painful than before. He even hears voices that are whispering a lot of things at the same time. He even saw a lot of vision. His memory is flashing back. But this memory is not the memory that he is searching. It is his memory of this adventure.

  Suddenly the pain subsides. He grabs the water and drank it until he finished the whole bottle.

  The old man saw Ram and Mushy standing on the door just looking to him to the eye.

  "What? You think I'm insane?" The old man said. "The car is broken. And I'm in the middle of nowhere because I'm insane. I follow voices in my head when I should be in the nursing home and doing the thing that old people do.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?"

  The old man temperature is rising. He can feel it throughout his skin.

  "Shut up!" The old man said. The voices in his head speak to him. The old man is all sweaty.

  "I knew it. I shouldn't follow you. You are just a fucking voice. You are not God. I am just insane."

  He is weeping on the floor. When you became old, your energy is not like when you are young. And now the old man doesn't even notice that he is snoring.

  Chapter 25

  All the great stories come to this point. Troy has fallen, Hercules killed his wife, and Jesus was crucified. Everyone loses at some point of their life. But the thing is, it is just part of our life. What matter is how we come back and how we finish the story?

  The old man wakes up alone. He sits up. The cabin is small he can easily see if there anyone inside but there isn't. The cabin is dark. It is night time now. He is alone and screaming the name of Mushy and Ram. But no one respond.

  He grabs the bag and opens it. He slides near the window to have a light from the moon. He opens the bag and grabs every item. He throws it away.

  He thought that what if he never owns this item. He just assumes that he owns all of this. This adventure is just a lie. He is a fuck up imbecile senile old man that wants to find his fuck up old self. Why does he do all of this? He is even good as a dead person.

  "Because of this bag." The old man said. He throws it away and it hit the wall.

  "No, this is because of you." A voice said.

  The old man looks up. No one is in the cabin. The voice talks to him. Could this be a being that is more advance to humans that he can talk directly to our brain?

  "Who are you?

  "Why did you tell me to find my memory?

  "If you are real, help me."

  But no one answered.

  "It is because of you and not me." the old man said.

  "It is always you." The voice said.

  The old man put his hand over his ear.

  He saw something. He notices that there are still items inside the suitcase. There is a secret pocket that he doesn't notice before. And inside it are photos.

  The old man browses the photographs and he saw familiar faces. Not in his old memories but on this new memories.

  He saw Ram having a portrait shot, the photo is in black and white, he has this smile that doesn't show any teeth and this funny old style clothes he is still wearing today.

  He also saw a photo of mushy holding his a surfboard, having this smile and freckles under his eye.

  He also sees a group picture with Mushy. They are in some circle and it seems they are in woods. Maybe they are camping.

  He smiles while looking at the picture. It's been a while since he smiles. He remembers that Mushy and Ram is gone. And why does have this pictures in his bag

  Then he notices Mushy's knees. He is standing in front of the old man.

  "Who are you?" The old man asked.

  Mushy just look at him.

  "Answer me." The old man said. "Where is Ram? Explain these pictures."

  The old man senses that someone is standing behind his back. He walks forward then looks behind. "There you are." The old man said.

  Ram just looks to the old man without any emotion. The old man steps forward, with every step he takes. It is seem that the distance between Ram and him doesn't get close.

  "What is happening?" The old man asked.

  "Life is happening." The voice said.

  "I know but what is this? Who are them? I should be finding my memory, my identity. This is supposed to be my last adventure but it became a misadventure." The old man said.

  "You are."

  "You are what? I'm not even close to a single clue this picture might not even mine. I am alone in this place with nothing. I don't even know if anything of this is real."

  Then some of the things make sense. I should ask you, what you think is happening by this time. Did I just waste your time? Did you just read a garbage shit in literature? But this story is coming near to the end. So any guess what is happening?

  Maybe you are thinking that this old man is just hallucinating. Well, the old man also thinks about that also. That Mushy and Ram is just his a creation of his imagination.

  But why does he have the picture of the two. For the old man, that doesn't make any sense. The picture is real as far as his senses tell him. But why does he imagine them and they make sense. When they talk, they talk sense.

  Do you now have a conclusion? Does it make any sense because now the old man gets it?

  "I know the both of you." The old man said. "My memory is not yet back but both of you are fragments of my memory."

  Mushy and Ram gets near to him to raise him up, the old man feels that he is really raised, even they are just a form of his imagination but still everything seems you be real

  "When will I get my memory back?" The old man said.

  "You have it," Mushy said.

  "But. But I still don't remember, what do I call myself?"

  "Believe in yourself." Ram said and
with just a blink of an eye, Mushy and Ram are gone.

  Nothing makes sense. The old man thought that the fragments of his memory help him but when the time he need them, they are gone. He feels that they are gone for good.

  Now he goes back to the car since he has nothing to do here. He is having some lead now. He knows that the two are part of his life. He has two names to find, he must find where Mushy and Ram are. He even has a picture of the two

  Chapter 26

  He goes into the driver’s side and throws away his stuff on the back seat. He is all wet up from the rain. He just inserts the key to the ignition and starts the car. But all you can here is the ignition.

  The old man doesn't have any skills for fixing the car. He goes out of the car even if it is raining. He tries to open the hood but of course, he must unlock from the inside but he doesn't know it, so all his struggle is useless. The old man kicks the front tire but it seems that he hurt himself more than the jeep. But of course, the jeep is just an object without feelings, it can't be hurt.

  "Piece of shit." The old man said that echoed around him.

  The old man goes back to the jeep.

  "Someone, anyone, if there is someone hearing me that have the control over this universe. I know you can help me. So help me, please. Help me."

  With just one clicked. The car starts. The old man start to scream with happiness, he looks back to check Ram, to see if he is happy too, but no one is behind. He then remembers what happen. He must go.

  He drove back outside the woods.

  He feels better for every minute passing. It seems that everything happens in the cabin is a distant memory. When he is back to the road, he stops on the side of the highway. He thinks that there is still some sanity in him. He feels hunger so he eats. He eats the junk food that Ram chooses.

  When he feels full, he goes back to driving. He saw the place where he saw the governor. After a couple of hours, he saw that he gets near to the bar where he left the old soldier, he slow down a bit and saw the old man going out with two girls on his side. The old man honk and goes back to driving, and as for the soldier, he just does his salute.