Speculation
“Whatever happened to that ice cream seller? He was always here, rain or shine. I would walk past him, and sneak a curious glance, because my mother told me it’s rude to stare. I would study the character of the lines on his face, assume he is poor and lonely, and conjure romantic sad stories of him sleeping in a bench under the open sky. He would shiver on cold windy nights, lose sleep on rainy nights by taking cover at an uncomfortable shade of a tree by squatting, and suffer the mockery of infantile ruthless pranksters disturbing his sleep.
“He is skinny, because he earns barely enough to scrape by. He tries to keep himself clean to improve his keep, but being homeless doesn’t allow a nice hot shower everyday. He takes a bath, only, if the cleaner, a middle aged lady who occasionally works fortnightly make allowances just for him. The other toilet cleaner, an Indian only shoos him away. They speak different mother tongues, and the language barrier mutes his needs.
“He would swallow his saliva as haughty young people stroll past with aromatic food, ranging from fast food to hidden secretive food in packages that seemed to arouse his taste buds by their tantalising smell that overpowers him for the brief moment they fleet past. How lucky were they! Dressed in brand new threads, bags that were not worn beyond repair, and shoes that covered their feet. He had a simple meal of rice with vegetables if business was average, and tap water. Nothing but a growling stomach, on bad days. His bags were biscuit tins salvaged from sidewalks, his slippers were mended so many times the cobbler refused to touch on it anymore, saying they were way beyond repair. He scotched taped them well, it still was on his feet, although the tape were uncomfortable and sticky on hot days.
“Whatever happened to that man on the corner of the street?” Mused the students, as they strewn their half eaten food on the floor and walked away.
A pair of hands reached out from the bushes, desperately grabbing the food in one swoop. The ice cream man smiled. He knew he need not sell ice cream anymore.
