Everything changed

Written for Writers Island prompt 'Change' and Sunday Scribblings prompt 'Birth'




You know what it’s like. You see a dishevelled character, slumped cross-legged in a heap on the pavement with a rusty tin in front of him, inside a few coppers and a couple of foreign coins. A mangy mutt of a dog lies on its side, asleep, knackered.

I saw such a person this afternoon. He was probably young, although it was hard to tell. He looked at me through bloodshot eyes staring out of an ashen hollow-cheeked face. It was raining. Not pouring, more of a drizzle but it added pathos to the scene of despair and hopelessness before me.

“Can you spare me some change for a cup of tea guv’nor?” he mumbled.

Was it really tea he wanted money for? You never can tell. More often than not, what little money these people scratched together helped fuel some form of dependency. But I‘m certain I saw something else in those tired sad eyes. I saw a sparkle. It was just for a fraction of a second, but it was enough to make me to feel a pang of pity for the pathetic person before me. So I did something I rarely do. I plunged my hand into my pocket and dropped all of the loose change I had into his tin.

Suddenly I trouble focusing. Or did I? I rubbed my eyes. Everything in front of me was changing. You know that effect used in films where the image begins to ripple? That is what I was seeing. The crumpled beggar began rising from the pavement before my very eyes, swirling, twisting, snaking. It was like witnessing the supernatural birth of a strange new life in a sci-fi movie. I just stood there bog-eyed! Even the dog came back to life! And believe it or not the people walking by and the cars in the street all stopped moving. Motionless, frozen. Bizarre.

There in front of me stood a grinning, winking, mincing young – thing! Tall, suave, dressed in a multi-coloured suit, and a peaked pink hat set at a jaunty angle atop a mop of streaked blonde curling locks. As he smiled his glistening white teeth sent a shooting star high into the air. There he stood one hand upon his hip, the other hanging loosely from a limp wrist. Then I noticed the dog. I swear it was grinning, a diamond encrusted pink collar around its neck sparkling in the sunshine.It sat there one front leg raised, a paw hanging as if imitating its master! But surely, it was raining a few minutes ago, and now the sky was dressed in a cloak of the brightest blue, with white clouds performing a merry dance around the sun. What was happening? Why the sudden change?

I was transfixed. He looked me in the eye and said (no lisped!)  “Today ith your thpecial day! I am your Fairy Godfather thweetheart! I can grant you th-wee withes. I’ve got a couple in mind if you are th-tuck for idea-th!” It was like a dream, a bad dream, a NIGHTMARE!

Thudenly - no suddenly, I realised I was being shaken. I blinked a few times and found myself sitting on a stool, a stool at a bar. And in front of me was an empty glass. On my shoulder was a hand, the hand of a bar tender.

“I think you’ve had enough” he said.  I nodded in agreement.“Tho, what are you doing later thir?” he asked.

He winked, his teeth flashed, and I jumped off my stool and ran for my life!

Don't forget Carry On Tuesday, the prompt with a difference! Click HERE.