The Nice Thing About Strangers
Creative Non-Fiction Short Stories. :) Travel, Oldsters, Love, and Compassion.
First to the Top
They are brothers, this is clear. The eyes, the posture, the low chuckle as they part ways. One brother boards the 16 bus. This brother wears a navy coat, a herringbone driving cap. His brother will walk. They are in their fifties, but they have the same slight movement that they must have had as children. Instead of waiting in stillness, they shuffle a bit, not fidgeting but shifting into the space around them. I saw this at the bus stop, I see it as the brother in the hat takes a seat in front of me. He sits and makes an almost imperceptible circle with his shoulders, his torso.
The walking brother wears a tan coat and no hat. They wave at each other when one brother boards, then again as the bus takes the steep road up past the path of the hatless one. At the next stop, only two minutes later, the brother leaps from his seat and departs. He exits, stands wobbling in a crowd of people planning to board and he gazes left, down the hill, waiting for someone.
-Budapest, Hungary
Mooch-Lion comparison
The Nice Thing About Strangers 
I love how you noticed that these two men have not changed that much over the years because of their close relationship.
I have a tendency to watch out for siblings, loving mine as I do. These two really made my day, and helped me to get out of my worries about assorted tasks. 🙂
Paige
Wonderful indeed
Thank you, Jo-Anne! 🙂
Merry Christmas to you and your family, my friend!
Paige
We’re all the same in that we all are different 😉 And I love the way you have used the image so well in this post. To be honest, when I began reading, I imagined you were speaking of the difference between a statue and a puppet – perhaps an image you were intending on conveying in a metaphorical sense 🙂
Well done, Paige, a very insightful look into the lives of those siblings who remain similar while still becoming their own person.
🙂 Thank you, Dave! I’ll have to read it again and look for the puppet. I’m a little bit afraid of puppets… 😀
Merry Christmas! Thank you for the kind note.
Paige