Al Lone

All right, all right. It's been a while. At this point, I will probably have to get a new reader base as my old readers must have stopped checking by now. It's been quite a while. I was either too busy or lacked the incentive to write about anything. But, in the words of Tom Brady after winning his second SuperBowl, "I'm (we're) back." I actually have some stuff to update you all on and some other stuff to say, but for now, I'll write a little short story. I realize the grammar and structure is far from perfect as I am not a good story teller, but i was in the mood. So that's what you get:)

Al went to the mall to get some Christmas shopping done. Well...that was one of his errands he wanted to get done, but it wasn't the purpose for leaving the house on that beautiful day. It was one of those fall afternoons where the smell of the air and the warmth of the sun put a smile on every face that stepped outside the house. So, it was no suprise when Al walked to his car, he was greeted by his elderly next door neighbor, with a warm smile on her face and an ensuing conversation about the weather. "Hello Mr. Lone, what another gorgeous day the Lord has blessed us with no?" Her grandchildren interrupting half way through to show her some new insects that they had just caught from the yard. Al didn't have much to say as he always felt quite awkward around the elderly, and he wasn't crazy about creepy little insects. It's not that he didn't like them, but...he just doesn't like to be around them much. After all, he had "more important things" to do that day. He quickly checked his mailbox before getting into his car. Nothing. Al quickly jumped into his car and drove to the mall. His mind was racing with different ways he could bless people by finding those who are alone and somehow just find a way to love on them. Al realized that he couldn't necessarily bring joy to someone's life himself, but as Christian, he believed that the Holy Spirit living within him could do more than Al could do in his flesh. He started day dreaming of the different ways that the Holy Spirit would "ooze" out of him and touch people's lives just by walking by and making eye contact with people. Al wasn't a theologian, he barely finished high school, so he wasn't sure how much sense this even made. Yet, Al was a man of action, he wanted to "do" first and then find a way to make sense out of it later. As he arrived to the mall, he parked his car far away from the entrance. Al always thought that it didn't make much sense driving around for 3 minutes trying to find a close parking spot when he could just walk to the entrance in half the time. Upon entering the main entrance, he saw a group of boys smoking outside near the door. The kids varied in ages from 16 to 26, but they all seemed to have a sense of brotherhood about them despite their ages. Many of them were dressed in black shirts and sweatshirts. Al thought to himself that these kids seemed happy enough being in their group, so he will just "let them be" and walked in the side entrance instead. As Al walked through the food court, he couldn't help but get some food for himself. After all, it's been 30 minutes since his last meal and he could already feel himself in the mood for more food. As he sat down to eat, he looked around at the other tables in the food court. There were many couples, young and old, sitting down across from each other eating their afternoon meal. Some couples were seemingly engaged in some very interesting topics. Others just sat across the table eating their food in silence, while occasionally looking into each other's eyes, and giving a quick smile before going back to their food. Most of the couples across the food court seemed to be laughing and smiling more than they were eating their food. However, there was one couple that attracted much of Al's attention. The father was bouncing his two year old son on his lap and throwing him up in the air. The young boy screamed with excitement as if relishing in the fact that he knew his father was there to catch him every time. The father was glowing with pride for his son and it didn't seem like anything could take the smile off of the father's face. Al was overwhelmed with emotion, as this episode reminded him of his own desire to have his own family. Al walked away from his meal feeling very down and decided to just go home. He thought that he'd at least walk the long way around to his car. In his walk, he saw an elderly couple holding hands, walking slowly in front of him. At first, Al was enraged that these old people didn't seem to have enough consideration for the "rest of the world" that was trying to get by and get on with their lives. As he passed them, Al started to feel less awkward and saw a certain beauty in the old couple that he passed. Al wasn't sure what to make out of it, so he just walked quickly past them as if he had somewhere to go. By the time Al came back to his house, the sun had set and the cool evening air caused Al's breath to show whenever he exhaled. Al quickly ran inside and got ready for bed. While brushing his teeth, he thought of how he wasn't able to really brighten anyone's day and make them feel less lonely. Upon thinking of it further, Al realized he didn't see anyone who was alone and in need of companionship the whole day. Wiping his face off he looked in the mirror and stopped himself dead in his tracks. There before him stood the face he had been searching for all day. Before him stood the lonliest face he'd seen for quite some time. "How many people have i been fooling with this face?" The sad facts of the day came crashing into his mind. The empty mailbox, his forgotten birthday, the empty bed, the silent phone. Al thought of all the people he saw that day and it made him feel sick to think that he had nobody to share his day with. When Al gathered himself, he was too emotionally drained and tired to watch tv, so he lay down in bed, shutting the lights off and...the silence was too much. Al turned the tv on and drifted off to sleep.