6회 애문 신인상 2번째 제출 수필

 

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   Every dawn is the start of a new day that arrives without fail but the life of a retiree can be as banal as an old record...
  

However much the pandemic has been tightening one’s life up for one and half years physically and psychologically, my retirement life is not much different from any other days. Therefore, a small daily event can impact on me a great deal that makes me appreciate life more.
  

It was the usual afternoon with no particular plans and I stepped out of my front door. I first drove, heading for my local supermarket but decided to take a walk and parked the car about halfway through the route. On my way back to the car, I heard some noises and giggles behind my back. Soon, three school kids including one who was on a bicycle passed by me playfully and hurriedly. They looked around 10 year olds, Indian origin. I noticed that the kid on his bicycle was holding an empty coca cola can on hand which made me curious to see what he was going to do with it. Sure enough, he just threw it on the floor.
  

I was a bit disappointed by his action but thought to pick it up when I got there. Then, I was intrigued to see by the response of the other two boys. They suddenly blocked the boy’s bicycle and began to tease him saying “Pick it up, pick it up” but the boy didn’t move just kept sitting on his bicycle. I felt playful myself somehow and joined the other two boys, “Pick it up, pick it up” then I just laughed off. It was a tricky temptation of me to interfere with their frolicking moment that would’ve led to an unpleasant outcome. They could’ve even sworn at me easily for this. But then, I threw them a curve already and expected any reaction of them. They all looked at me in surprise and then the other two boys called the bike boy out for action, “You see, you see, the man said so” with more teasing tone. To my surprise, the boy got off his bike and picked the can up and then they all were off again. Wow, I was amazed to see that my half-joking interference had worked.
  

They didn’t go far. The bike boy got off the bike again and stomped on the can, flattened and put it between the bike’s front wheel and it’s fender. He then kept pedalling to restart the bike. He probably didn’t like carrying the can on his hand. I was just passing the scene and threw a sentence, “It will surely jam the wheel, good luck”, and I carried on walking. They somehow stayed behind me for a while then I heard the chorus of “Bye”. I looked back in some doubts about what I had just heard but saw them all waving at me with big smile.
  

I hadn’t expected that the bike boy would listen to me when I egged him on in joining the other boys to pick the can up earlier on, but this ‘bye’ from them was really out of the blue. I was so touched by their small but kind acts and returned them my bye eagerly with a big wave. Wow, there are still good kids around, I muttered to myself.
  

It was probably a small encounter to the boys who would forget all about it when they got back their home. But, it was a highlighted daily event for me.
  

I sincerely wished them successful lives with building up their future with those sincere and level-headed attitudes they had shown me.
  

In the beginning, it started as a reluctant walk but led to a good and positive ending which I was very pleased with.