He walked heavily down the road in the quiet of the early afternoon. In the blazing sun he roamed the narrow twisting streets of the town. He was laughing and holding a conversation with an invisible person.
'Here he comes! Here he comes!' we children whispered so we wouldn't wake the adults from their afternoon nap. Through half open shutters we watched him go by, shuddering with excitement and fear.
The object of our curiosity was Nubes, a mysterious plump middle-aged man. His skin was rough and tanned and his eyes were like pieces of coal in pools of snow. When he spoke, his white teeth gleamed through fleshy red lips.
As in most places, there was in our town a collection of funny characters: the cheerful chubby madman who was nearly bald and drove an i
maginary car down the street; the eccentric old ballet teacher who danced in her garden in long bright flowing dresses. They stood stiffly on their verandah and watched us other kids play through their sad dark eyes.
But Nubes was different: he was new in our town. None pf us knew where he had come from or where exactly he lived now. And he was clearly mad! ‘He must be from another planet’, my cousin suggested breathlessly.
'Don't be silly! There are no people on other planets. I think his boat was shipwrecked and he managed to swim to the beach. All his family died and he's gone mad from the pain.'
One evening, as I walked home from running an errand, I heard heavy steps behind me. Gathering all my courage, I looked round to see Nubes a short distance away, smiling his big white smile. I ran home as fast as I could, occasionally turning to see if he was still there. He followed me all the way home but I managed to get in just before he was able to reach me. I slammed the door in his face and wailed as I pointed the door. Alarmed, my mother opened the door.
'This is Mr. Lopez’, she said. 'He's going to work with your father at the boatyard. Please excuse my daughter's behaviour', she added turning to him. 'She has a vivid imagination'.
Nubes Luna soon became part of the family. At first, people criticized my parents for taking him into our home. 'The man is obviously a lunatic', said the nosy woman next door. 'It'll come to no good. I wouldn't let my children spend so much time with a mad stranger.' But Nubes was a kind friendly man who was very fond to children. He never lost the habit of talking to imaginary listeners but in time he was accepted by the people in out town.
An inoffensive danger written by Cristina Nuta for FamousWhy.com
FamousWhy.com - Famous People ... Famous Regions, a Lot Of Articles and Free Software Downloads
An inoffensive danger Image Source : freeschoolclipart.com
No related sites found. If you are the webmaster of a website, blog or forum that contains related information to this page, we invite you to submit it for inclusion here.
Please add a link to our website before submitting your link(s).
Your link will be validated by our editors in about 48 hours.
by Cristina Nuta -