- Mr. Clarke?
Seamed like the man wasn't hearing me. He stood at the edge of a dock gazing at grey waters of the lake.
- Mr. Clarke! I've been told I should I ask you for a boat.
He turned around and I saw a slender, carved with deep wrinkles face of an old man. Cold wind fluttered his thin, long beard and his eyes looked hazy.
- Mr. Garrison! Going for a ride?
- You know my name?
- You're Jack Garrison? Son of Tamara and Jason Garrisons. There have been some rumours spreading about you're visiting parents.
He was speaking slowly in a hoarse voice.
- That's right. Small town, huh? I've already forgotten how this is, being living in a quiet place like this. I looked closer at old man's face — And you... You're Jasper Clarke! Right? The father of Kyle Clarke. I remember playing with your boy as kids. How is he being? Haven't seen him around.
- He... he... - the old man burst into coughing - I'm sorry. Were you looking for a vessel... - He gestured towards the lake and stepped closer to one of the wooden boats docked aside. He went silent for a while, then looked at me as if considering something. "This one will do." - he wheezed, immediately bursting into coughing again.
The boat was old and decrepit - definitely not the best one from the bunch. But he's the owner, so I thanked him and threw my backpack in.
The weather was serene and the water was still. Nonetheless, the encounter with old Jasper has left some uneasy sediment, and I tried to figure out the reason for it while slowly paddling towards the middle of the lake. I looked at the dock - the man was walking away as if in a hurry.
Was it the way he looked at me, when giving a the boat? Some hint of guilt in his eyes. I looked down moving a thick layer of half decomposed leaves and seeweed gathered at the bottom of the bark with my feet. "Maybe the other boats don't belong to him..." Yet still it felt like it was something different. "Was it about Kyle?" All I remember is that he was big, like really big for his age. Didn't speak much, and always looking ill. It was something genetic, I suppose. Not sure if someone told me that... Maybe it've got worse. I guess, I shouldn't have been asking him about...
The cawk of a distant raven spread across the surface of the lake, bringing me out of my thought. After all, I came here to spend some time in a quiet - something I was lacking so much living in a city.
I was right at the center of the lake now, so I stopped paddling and after ab serving the surroundings for a while I laid down, stretching along the bottom of the boat, having a second thought about soft padding underneath my back.
Comments (0)
See all