by Zinnia Hope © 2008
All rights reserved Wild Child Publishing
Lily left the aroma of the bagel shop behind. She deposited the last of her meager money in a scruffy purse. Grateful for the heat, she clutched a warm bag of bagels and a foam cup of steaming coffee in her stiff, cold hands. An early spring wind violently shoved her along the sidewalk until she reached her favorite store window. She peered through the frosted pane.
The Queen's Closet, the most expensive formal dress store in town, drew the city's wealthy and those in need of that special something. Wincing as the wind ripped through her shamefully thin coat, Lily wished with all her soul that she were a young girl again. Long ago, she'd owned an emerald green ball gown and had worn jewels around her sleek throat, her flaming red hair swept up into a fancy coiffure of cascading curls. All the handsome, eligible men had begged Lily to dance, but as always, she'd waited patiently for her lover to come and sweep her out onto the ballroom floor.
Usually, after standing and dreaming for so long that her old bones screamed from the weather, Lily moved on in search of an unoccupied park bench.
Today, however, presented something different. Her emerald ball gown had been placed in the display window. It adorned a faceless mannequin; the wax replica looked magical, as though it were alive. With puffy sleeves and a plunging neckline, the embroidered bodice hugged the torso seductively. Rich velvet fell to the floor in yards of sweeping deep green skirt.
For Lily, time seemed to stand still.
The store manager noticed her and charged haughtily out onto the icy sidewalk.
"Get away from my display window!" The woman stared at her with disgust.
Lily looked sadly into the manager's hard, unsympathetic eyes and endured their frigidness.
"I said get away from here!" The manager's haughty tone trembled in the freezing wind. "My customers think you're crazy! You've been gawking through the window for the past hour! Get lost before I call the police!" She spun on her heel and slammed the door.
Lily's fantasies crumbled like dry leaves in a fierce autumn gale. She hugged the warm sack against her pendulous breasts. A tear slid down her cheek and crystallized in the wintry air.
She walked until she arrived at Shalestone City Park. Positioning herself on a chilly bench, Lily munched a blueberry bagel and observed passersby. Everyone seemed flustered and in a hurry. Most likely, their only thoughts were of warm stores, offices, homes, and something hot to drink. For an instant, Lily wished to be one of them, but that would never happen. No one wanted a bag lady as a friend nor cared about where she found her next morsel of food or if she had a warm bed to sleep in. Although she'd given up everything for Jason, she had no regrets.
She dismissed her thoughts of Jason and watched a young black man lope down the sidewalk toting a cumbersome boom box on his shoulder that blared rap music. As the tune ended, he paused to sit on her bench and tie his shoe. The station switched over to a weather report.
"A wind chill advisory is in effect for the entire weekend," a male voice crooned from the speakers. "With the wind chill factor, the temperature is expected to drop to thirty below zero. Folks are advised to stay indoors and keep their pets inside...."
Finished tying his shoe, the young man grabbed his stereo and hurried away.
Lily pulled her shabby coat closer to her frail body and yanked her floppy hat tighter. She glanced down the sidewalk as she did so. An elderly gentleman stumbled towards her bench. He trudged along with his head down and his hands buried deep inside his coat pockets, his steps shuffling along the salt-strewn sidewalk. As he moved closer, she noted that his trousers were a tad too long for him. A dingy pair of Keds with a hole in the left toe graced his cumbersome feet. His coat flapped in the wind, promoting the comical allusion of a spindle-legged black bird testing its wings for takeoff. A deep scarlet flower perched in his lapel, its color like a wound upon the breast of an ebony bird. Its long knobby stem dangled down his dark coat front.
He halted next to her and offered her a half-toothless smile. "Hello, ma'am."
Lily nodded.
He sat down on the opposite end of the park bench and joined her in watching passersby.
She studied him with keen interest. A brown, wide-brimmed hat perched precariously on his wrinkled brow. Large, bushy white eyebrows gave the illusion that they were the only things holding up his chapeau. A salt-and-pepper moustache hid most of his mouth. Lily leaned closer and peered hard at him. Although his face suffered time's sabotage, she caught a glimpse of the man he once had been. Her mouth dropped open.
The old fellow noticed her intense scrutiny and met her gaze.
She remembered the paper poke in her lap. "Excuse me, sir," she began. "I have an extra bagel. Would you care to join me?"