The Sad Man and The Boy with the Brown Hair

Once upon a time there was a Little Boy who had brown hair and loved nothing more than to run and play on the sunny spot of a hill top that sat next to his backyard.

He wanted for nothing as he had everything he'd ever need.

He loved his parents and he had very good friends and all was right with the world.

Once upon a time before this, there lived a Man who was very sad. He was a Sad Man because he had a secret that he never told anyone. He never told anyone because he thought this would frighten or scare them away from him.

He wanted for everything even though he had everything he'd ever need.

And he loved his friends more than he loved his parents. This was because he felt his friends would accept his secret more so than his parents and he could deal with the rejection when faced by a peer, but not by family.

So he kept his secret to himself and all was right in the world.

One day, the Sad Man was passing by the hilltop of the Boy with the brown hair. And he spotted him. He generally avoided staring at boys with brown hair in public because he was afraid of what people might think of him. He also felt like it would give away his secret if he did it regularly.

However, when he spotted the Boy, he felt compelled to stop and stare. Mainly because the Boy looked so happy and contrastingly, the Man felt so sad and alone.

The Boy started to notice a Man wearing a long jacket pass by his hilltop every afternoon at four. This did not scare the boy, and he noted that he looked sad and was in need of a friend. So, one day the Boy with the brown hair started talking to the very Sad Man with the long jacket.

The Sad Man enjoyed the company of the Boy and the Boy enjoyed the company of the Sad Man. What was strange however is that the Man who was very sad began to feel happier about himself and the Boy, who lacked not for anything or anyone grew worried and sad.

The Boy began to feel like he too had a secret that he couldn't share with the world. He first started lying to his parents about where he was going of an afternoon at 4. He then started wanting more than what he already had.

Ironically, The Man started to feel the reverse.

One day when the no longer Sad Man noticed that the Boy with the brown hair was a Man, he realized how much the Boy had meant to him. And how ashamed he felt spending so much time with a boy his age when he, himself was so old. But, he told himself not to worry. He had really done nothing wrong. And that now, the Boy was a Man he could perhaps share his secret with someone at last and be truly happy.

The Boy also noticed he was no longer a little Boy, but a New Grown Man. And the Sad Man he had known as a little boy had too, grown older. He resented the Man however, as now he felt distant from his parents, his friends and his possessions. He now had a secret as well. He had never told anyone because he thought this would frighten or scare them away from him.

The no longer Sad Man decided to tell of the secret he had been holding onto all these years. So he went to the sunny spot of the hill top that sat next to the Boy's backyard.

The Man who was no longer a boy, was waiting for him. Feeling so ashamed of his secret that he would stop at nothing to stop anyone from knowing.

That's when he killed the Man. So no one would ever know what he had done to him. And the New Man became a Very Sad Man with a second secret he would never tell anyone.

Just like the first one.

Fruit of the Moment: Thomas Newman