Terry

As she bent over to pick up her jumper, the old man on the bench said, "Look! There are two moons out tonight!" She'd looked up to the sky before she realised what the cheeky bugger meant. Tutting at him loudly, she waddled off down the street, mumbling to herself.

Terry chuckled. He knew she'd go home and have a laugh with her husband and two sons over it. He knew she was the type who loved a bit of banter.

He knew everything about everyone. He knew that the young girl standing at the bus stop checking her phone every five seconds was waiting for that call or text or message. She'd had a row with her boyfriend and was waiting for him to call her. He also knew he wouldn't,  and that by the time she got off the bus at her destination,  she'd have called him. Terry also knew he wasn't worth it.

He knew that the gardener weeding the pansies in his garden was about to win the lottery. He also knew that the resulting increase of cash flow would see his whole family fight and fall apart. You had to be careful of what you wished for these days.

He knew that that the young woman locking the doors on her flower shop was two weeks pregnant. She didn't know yet.

He knew that the driver of the flash audi was going to die on the M1 at 7:21 the following morning. Car pile ups were a nasty business.

What Terry didn't know, however,  was who or where he was, why he was there, or where he had been. He just knew that he was. And that was always enough for him. He didn't feel hungry, but couldn't remember ever eating. He wasn't thirsty, but didn't know the last time he drank. He didn't know where he lived or slept, but wasn't sleepy so didn't really care.

He just knew that he was.

Animals had a habit of gravitating toward him. At his feet sat 2 stray dogs and three cats. The cats all had different owners, and their names were Shelley, Ozzy and Munch. The dogs lived around the town somewhere, and he knew they'd be picked up and re homed soon. The bitch was going to live with the Jacob family in Hustletoon Road. The male was going to end up on a farm. Both would be loved and cared for. Terry smiled as he stroked their heads. All was good.

A man in a suit came to sit next to him. He looked like a man in despair. He didn't acknowledge Terry. He just sat and held his head in his hands as he wept.

Terry watched him for a moment, then knew his story. It had been the best year for the young father. His beautiful wife was six months pregnant with their second, he'd had two job promotions, their bid on the new house had been accepted and his brother had been given the all clear after years of cancer treatment. Up until 26minutes ago, he'd been the happiest he'd ever been in his life.

Then he'd recieved the phone call. His father had passed away. He had adored him. They had been the best of friends for his whole life. His father always had a way of cheering him up when things were down. They'd had this secret way of making each other laugh, even through tears.

Terry could see it now. The father would tilt the boys head up and say, "Chin up lad, it's not all bad!" Then he would play-punch the side of the boys chin gently, "I could be Sugar Ray, and that punch could hurt!"

Sugar Ray was dead, and so was this mans father. But the love would never die. Terry knew this. Terry knew that he would do exactly the same to the unborn son that his wife now carried. Terry knew that though people don't last forever, their legacies did. Small things they said or did. Generations would carry it forward. That was just the way things were.

He got up from the bench, and stood before the weeping man. "Chin up, lad," he said, and the man raised his face in wonder to the ghost that stood before him. Terry gently play-punched him, and even as his hand glided though the mans chin like it was air,  he still said, "I could be Sugar Ray!"

"And that punch could hurt," the man finished, the tears in his eyes blinding him from the magic before him.

Terry wandered off, knowing that his job on that bench was complete. He did not know what or who he was, he just knew that he was.