Musing

The balcony outside his apartment on the fourth floor was nothing short of ideal.

On either side there were wings of wall that provided privacy in both directions. His small table and chair were not overlooked. This level of isolation gave an added sense of comfort, while he peered into the lives of others. The park spread out before him with all it had to offer. The scene was busy. A great variety of characters and endless scenarios, all quite unique and never the same. Repeats were never on the menu that was being presented before him. On the table lay a writing pad, together with a ball-point pen. It was a little after noon, an ideal time for his musing.

He sat quite still, taking it all in for several minutes, before picking up his pad and noting the date.

His first subject, the man on the bench, eating from a small container. Despite the warmth of the day, he was wearing a suit, but no tie. Was he an office worker, or a store manager, perhaps? Either way, he could well be something else. Waiting for a contact. Being in a designated place at an agreed upon time. Would this be some agent from the world of law enforcement or a go-between from some criminal fraternity. He scribbled a number of notes, then looked back up.

The young girls that sat cross-legged on the grass seemed to be laughing and confiding in some dark secret. Was this about some fellow worker who was about to be given their severance pay, or maybe the movie they had both watch on the internet that their parents knew nothing about? He preferred the former idea and made an appropriate note.

The solitary youngster sitting on the swing and only moving slowly, half-heartedly, caught his attention. Had he run off from his parents to sit their sulking while they were left worrying about him, or was he a perfect cover for an alien placed here from some far-off galaxy, with the sole purpose of reporting back on what he sees and learns?

After a long period of scribbling down all that he had gathered, the writer stood and stretched.

He took one last look before turning and going in.

He had enough to be going on with…