An Old Man in Disguise
In seventh grade, everyone starts to have a crush on others. Lorena was the girl everyone knew of. Every Tuesday she goes to the park to ride her bike. There is an oval pathway around a small pond, which she takes, and always goes around four times. She used the time to relieve any stress from that day or just to acquire some fresh air. On the first Tuesday of the month, she challenges herself by completing eight laps, but she usually stops at six because she becomes weary. On the first Tuesday of May, she began to ride her bike to the park and saw her friends from school were going as well. Lorena hid from them because she likes to have her own time away from friends. She took a different path to access the park. Her friends didn’t see her, but they heard the noise of the branches hitting one another. Lorena decided to hop off her bike to make less noise and walk her bike to the park. While she was walking, she saw an old man who was walking to the park too. She tried not to catch his attention, so she moved quietly. Once she saw him make a turn, she got on her bike and made her way toward the park.
Lorena alternates between sprinting one and easing off the next. She started off slow because she kept remembering the old man. She thought he was too fast to be that old, but she thought he might just be in excellent shape. As she nears to finishing her third lap, she sees the same old man and starts to slow. She is amazed because she sees him dashing around the same pond as her. She realizes she has come to a complete stop because of how astonished she is. The old man stops and stares at her, and she becomes embarrassed because of how rude she thought she was being. She jumps back on her bike and continues to pedal. She lets her mind wander as she’s riding her bike at ease. When she comes back to reality, she notices the old man is jogging right next to her. Surprised by his presence, she immediately presses on her brakes causing the bike to nearly flip forward. The old man stops and rushes towards her. “Are you okay?” He asks. The man doesn’t sound elderly. He takes her bike and escorts her over to a bench that’s nearby. “Are you sure you’re okay? That was a close call.” She shook her head no and still gazed at him amazed by how young he sounded. “Thank you for everything sir.” “What is a young lady like you doing here all alone?” She told him her weekly routine and her monthly goal. He seemed like a lovely old man. She began to tell him about school, and he told her about his school. She realized they were taking similar courses, which surprised her. The conversation was endless because she never thought she would have a conversation with an old man. As he was speaking she recognizes a voice in the background. It’s Alliah from math, but it’s too late. She knows by now her friends see her, and that they know she’s talking to some old creepy man. She grabs her bike and tells him she is feeling better now, but she should be getting back home. The old man replies by saying “I’ll see you next Tuesday!” She smiles and waves back at him not having a clue about what he just said. As she races back home she sees her friends and takes the same path out as she came in. She rushes back home.
The next couple of weeks, she tries not to make so much conversation with her friends, scared they might bring up the old man. When she leaves lunch, she over hears her friends talking about her and the old man that she saw the first Tuesday of the month. It is Tuesday and she goes to the park. She sees the old man and tells him, “We can no longer be friends. My friends talk about how I talk to an old man” “But—““I’m-- I have to go”. “I’m your age though! I just look like an old man, it’s not my fault... it’s called Hutchinson-Gilford Pogeria Syndrome… don’t leave like everyone else…”