As the night gets colder and stormier Malcolm seeks refuge away from the open spaces of the city park. He raises a hand dressed in a dirty glove and he scratches the beard on his grimy face. His face becomes a lot sootier. Even the falling raindrops can't clean away the permanent muck stained on his face. Those unwashed gloves. He hasn't had a shower for months and even then it was the public toilets. A sort-of shower.
The wind begins to howl as Malcolm wanders around urgently seeking for something with a roof. He has wandered out too far today and arrived at a location he doesn't know very well. The park is pleasant but not while it's cold and raining. Malcolm resigns and he's tired. He opts to sit a while under a dense tree. He rests his back upon the thick bark of the tree. Bumpy. Uncomfortable.
His clothes absorb a fresh new grime of mud and stench. The winds blow and it is still cold but the denseness of the tree branches shelter him from the rain. Somewhat.
His eyes scour the views in front of him. Hoping to see something. Someone. But there's no one around and why would they be? They've all got homes to go to, he thinks enviously.
Suddenly a moving figure materialises into viewpoint. It's blurred because the figure is so far and yet it was moving nearer and nearer. Soon he would be able to see it more clearly. Yes.. it is a woman and she's dressed in red. She has an umbrella and she holds something else too but he can't quite make out what. She was coming towards him. Malcolm doesn't think the lady's seen him. Not yet anyway. Not while he's concealed behind the branches. She's heading his direction. He watches.
Seconds later the woman has arrived so near that she's noticed him. She hesitates. Malcolm is now sure she's seen him. My, she was beautiful. Her golden hair looked striking against her long, red coat. She carries an ordinary bag and a plastic bag and carefully holds an umbrella to shelter her from the rain. What's she doing in the park on a rainy day like this?
'Hi,' the lady calls out. Was it to him? He slowly raises his eyes and meets her sparkling blue ones.
'Aren't you cold?' She asks.
'What's it your business?' He growls. She hesitates.
'Well, I was just in the park. I was going to feed the ducks. Because they're hungry, see?' She says nervously.
'And so am I!' He responds rudely.
'But then it started raining, so I didn't,' she explains. 'The ducks. They're all gone.'
Malcolm belches. He doesn't need to be confronted.
'Don't you have a home to go to?' He says gruffly.
'So I've been left with a bag of fresh sliced bread,' she says. 'I feel you might need this a lot more than the ducks.' The lady approaches Malcolm and lays besides him the bag of fresh sliced bread. It's wholemeal.
If Malcolm's grateful now he doesn't show it. For he doesn't need her pity. He makes no eye contact as he waits for her to walk away. She goes away.
The woman's right. Malcolm is hungry. Starving actually. And he hasn't seen a gesture like this done for days.
Malcolm takes off his dirty gloves and he reaches out for the bag of bread. It was enough. He makes sure not to eat all of it so he could have more for the time ahead. Tomorrow will be another day but he's feeling grateful for this one and for all of the small generosities it has brought. He sets himself carefully within the grime of the mud and the grass and he sleeps.