The man on the bench: The Saturday I met Mr. Oracle

Saturday is my favorite day of the week. Fridays are fun but I’m usually exhausted after coming back from work. The best way to describe Sunday is unfulfilling, like eating a big slice of cheesecake. You always want another one but all you get is a stern no and a slap in the face—So Mondays, basically. 

I have a memory of a particular Saturday a couple years ago, my favorite one. Something about it made it feel special. Even today, I still can’t put my finger on it. I had woken up early, no alarm, no loud noises, it just happened! I didn’t feel like going back to bed so I stepped out, worked out, had some light breakfast, and decided that I should go out on a stroll. I also took the chance to take my dog, Jude, a small pug, out on a walk. Now, not only was I feeling immensely proud of myself for being active (which was not a common occurrence), waking up early, exercising, and such, but when I realized that there were no clouds in the sky and that there was a small summer breeze, I couldn’t help but be joyous, glad to be alive! I spent a great day out with Jude, ate out for lunch and later that day me and some friends went out clubbing and I even got laid! I mean—things were going so right that it was kinda scary, maybe to everyone else this might seem like a pretty simple or mediocre day, but to me, its true beauty lies in its simplicity, I was happy! I remember thinking to myself “Oh my god, could things be any better!?”. And the only thing I can say to that right now is that if I had a time machine, I would go back in time and slap myself for jinxing everything. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way a superstitious person, but it's like all the good fortune I had was completely used up in a single day. It reminds me of those dumb scenes in movies where a character says that things can’t get any worse before they DO get worse. And that’s what leads us to my current situation, in my case, things were going pretty well, but things didn’t get any better. 

It has been bleak lately, y’know? I know that there are highs and lows in life, but recently it's as if I've been getting pushed down over and over. Compare it to stepping on a kid’s legos every day or being in a bad mood constantly, not too annoying at first but it really messes you up if it keeps happening. That’s how every day feels. I’m tired of everything, I guess that’s all I’m trying to say. 

I’ve been having some money troubles lately, I haven’t been getting paid because of a situation at work so I’m pretty tight on cash. Actually, I’m late on rent and at risk of getting evicted. And that’s just a brief overview of the situation! For one, Jude died two weeks ago. She was pretty old, but still, the house is so quiet without her. 

Not only that but I had a fight with my brother recently, I was the one in the wrong. I realized that after a nasty fight we had at a family dinner a couple days ago. Apologizing is so tough, I know we're family and all but it's still so hard to find the right words to say I’m sorry to him. In general, I’m having a tough time finding the right words to describe my life right now. My relationships, my living situation, and most of all, myself. Everything feels gray. At times it's like I’m drowning, drowning in my own thoughts, in my own unhappiness.

 The worst part is that I can’t even think of ways to solve it, ways to get better, or even something that will help me make progress, I really can’t afford to go to a shrink at the moment. 

A loss of interest, yeah, I think that’s a proper way to describe how everything feels for me right now. Before, I was glad to be alive, but now I just don’t have enough strength to keep living like I did before. I’m sad, I guess, I’m just sad. Maybe if I hang on for a little more then this feeling of emptiness that I have will simply fade, who knows. All I can think about right now is that it really is getting harder to keep waking up and going to work every day. It has become a frequent fantasy of mine to go back to that Saturday. Where the sky was clear and where I had people by my side when everything felt just right. Who knows, maybe that's just the nostalgia talking. 

Today, it is Saturday again. I woke up early, my head was killing me. I’ve been having some trouble sleeping lately, stress-related. After completing the extremely arduous task of getting out of bed, I ate yesterday's leftovers for breakfast while looking at my phone with disinterest. After I finished eating I felt rather antsy, because, for the first time in a while, I had nothing to do. Nothing, work-related or otherwise. I had the whole day for myself. I grabbed a jacket and headed out the apartment, I didn’t even bother to check whether it was going to rain or not. I tried going through the more scenic routes, the ones that take me through the river or the plazas but I just felt tired of it all. Everything looked the same, not in appearance obviously, but more in the fact that everything had just lost its beauty. After a loud sigh, I decided to walk through the park me and Jude used to frequent on her walks before heading back home. 

As I was walking through the usual park scenery; families having a good time, dog walkers, and people exercising, something caught my eye. I was walking past some benches that faced the local pond. 

Seated in one of these, was a somewhat pale middle-aged man, maybe a little older. He seemed to be balding so he was wearing a dark blue beret. The man’s attire consisted of dark cloth pants, black leather shoes, and a black turtleneck, on top of which he was wearing an orange cardigan. He was also wearing round sunglasses, which were paired with a thin Van Dyke beard that, somewhat made him look like the cliched depiction of a French man. This in itself was not what caught my eye.

You see, aside from this colorful and slightly pretentious attire, the man was not only sitting on the bench but was handcuffed to it. And not only that. He was covered in white feathers which seemed to have been glued on him with some sort of sticky substance that smelled sugary, slightly like maple syrup. And on top of that, somebody had spread a ton of bread crumbs on the bench and around him. As you can recall, this was next to the local pond, which meant that there were around four or five ducks eating the bread while sitting on top of him. 

As any normal person would, I glanced at him once, containing my laughter so as to not be rude, and continued to briskly walk forward, without making eye contact. But as I found myself already a couple feet away, I just got this weird feeling. Not a bad feeling. I really don’t know how to describe it, but it felt as if I had something to do here, I kinda felt bad for the old man. So against my better judgment, I looked back and found that the guy was staring back at me. 

He motioned for me to sit next to him. On his right, there was a clean bench next to the one he was sitting in (no breadcrumbs). I literally had nothing else to do today so I went ahead and sat down. He seemed to look me up and down, I couldn’t tell properly because of his sunglasses. Just as I had analyzed his own attire, he seemed to be doing the same to me. I was wearing old gray jeans, dirty sneakers, and a stained baby-pink hoodie. I have light brown hair, which was kind of long and messy and I was unshaven. It all came together to make me look pretty unkempt, but not in a good way. I looked how I felt, basically. 

”Ho ho!” he laughed. A little like Santa Clause, but his voice was a little raspier, so more like your average old man, and no, he didn't speak with a French accent.

- “You look almost as bad as I do!” He said, as one of the ducks was trying to eat his cardigan. 

-” Oh..uh, yeah, I-I guess I do.” I said in a low voice—Did I mention I’m very socially awkward. I don’t know if it shows.

 “So…anyway–” I said, letting my curiosity push my insecurities away, “How did you, you know…”, pointing towards his whole situation. 

He laughed loudly for a couple seconds, very whole-heartedly may I add, almost as if he was remembering a funny joke somebody told him once. A small tear rolled down his right cheek as his laughter continued, he was basically losing it. His laughter slowly faded as his face seemed to settle into a warm smile. He grabbed the duck that was trying to eat his cardigan with his left hand (his right hand was handcuffed to the bench), and then proceeded to clean his tears with the confused animal, after that he sat the duck next to him. 

- “Me and my granddaughter have this little game going on. We do a big prank on each other every couple months. I pulled a pretty ingenious prank on her last time if I do say so myself, and this here is her revenge.” He smiled even more brightly.

- And you’re okay with it? This seems rather..” 

-” Oh don’t worry my friend! I'm over the Moon!” He laughed again. “ A year ago she couldn’t even crack a smile, but now, when she was pouring that disgusting maple syrup on me—oh you wouldn’t begin to imagine her expression! I have never seen her so happy. Ho Ho! And then– the way she absolutely panicked when she realized she left the keys to the handcuffs at home! Oh my!"

Again, he broke into laughter. I laughed with him this time, probably the first time I laughed sincerely in the last couple of months. His laugh was pretty contagious in a weird way. Even if from my point of view I didn’t understand why he was so happy (he had been chained down to the bench for a while to my understanding), there was just something so charming about the whole thing. 

-“My son and his wife” he continued after regaining his composure, “they passed away about two years ago. I think they would be proud of her.” He said with a hint of melancholy in his voice, but his smile still remained untouched. “My granddaughter went back to get the keys, I’m sure she’ll be back any moment. And..you know what? Sitting here, alone for the last half an hour, it really is in quiet times like these that I miss them even more.” 

I was going to say that I was sorry for his loss, almost like a reflex. But it felt disingenuous, like something I would regret saying later. Just as it had happened when I was fighting with my brother. So I said what I thought to be the next best thing—

-“What were they like?” 

He stared at me, almost confused by my question. He then smiled again.

-“ Heh, well.. my son? Good man, proud of him, loved him with all my heart. Not as handsome as me you know–but his mother’s genes more than made up for it. And my daughter-in-law? Ho! I’m not even sure how my son ever managed to marry her! I mean–what an amazing woman, like the daughter I never had.” 

The sadness in his voice had faded. He seemed even more happy to me as he told me all kinds of stories about his family. He told me he was all his granddaughter had, and even if he was old and felt tired a good deal, he wanted to give his best for her. I almost felt ashamed of my own life, because here was someone who had already lived through so much more loss. And yet here he was, completely different from me— free, almost. 

Eventually, the conversation shifted gears toward me. I told him about myself and my situation, and for some reason, I felt comfortable enough to tell him about everything. After I finished talking we stayed quiet for a while. I wanted to keep up the conversation, but it felt like it already had reached its natural ending, so I decided not to force it. 

Ten or so minutes later, the granddaughter came back with the key. She was covered in sweat and she was out of breath. She didn’t look older than fourteen or fifteen. She apologized to her grandpa profusely as she unlocked the handcuffs. The man patted her on the head and congratulated her for coming up with such a good scheme. She looked ecstatic, proud like she had just received a trophy. The old man was right, I don’t think I could have ever imagined the smile on her face properly. I’ve never seen anyone smile with such glee.  

The man stood from the bench, and so did I. He stretched a little bit and then turned toward me. 

-“Things may seem grim now my friend. But always remember that there are several solutions to the same problem. At the end of it, just remember to smile a little. Maybe it will help with that dastardly appearance of yours, who knows!” He said with that whole-hearted laugh of his.

-“Heh, I’ll keep it in mind, sir.”

-“Yes, ho ho ho! You have a bright future ahead young man. Just keep moving forward.” His words filled me with a deep sense of determination—hope. It had been a while since anyone had given me any encouragement. 

-“And how do you know that? Can you see the future? Are you an oracle, old man?” I said chuckling.

-“You are kind, why else would you sit here to keep me company for the past hour?! People like you always make it far in life, you just need a little push. So keep your chin up, alright?” 

He put his hand forward, it was kind of sticky and covered in feathers but I didn’t hesitate to shake it. As he and his granddaughter walked away, he turned around one last time and said:

-“And, young man! If I do indeed see the future, then it's Mr. Oracle to you, not old man!" He nagged.

After that, I never saw Mr. Oracle again. All I remember from later that day was reaching into my pocket and pulling out my cell phone to call my brother. Not the end of my problems, but a good start to fixing them, and I have him to thank for it. An extraordinary Saturday to say the least.