Not Today by E Feldman David

Author:E Feldman, David
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: EFace Media
Published: 2021-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

Frank Patella, or Cranky Franky, as he was known by those he spent most of his time with, was late for work. He had been late for work, or had been a no show, most days for the past nineteen years. This was his own private joke, since he had been technically and happily employed by the same employer in a capacity that was never mentioned, except on his original work form, and was wholly unrelated to his actual job—except in name. He was a messenger. He was The Messenger.

Franky also spent nearly an hour every day watering and feeding his beloved flowers. They graced the windowsills and the tables arranged in front of each of his windows. There were orchids and petunias, zinnias and geraniums, begonias and nasturtiums—all surrounded by ivy and heather. He planned to add bonsai trees and self-contained hydroponic gardens.

These were his babies. His family. He did not go to work until he gave them some love.

The city had originally hired Franky as a messenger, to deliver envelopes between departments. That he had, in fact, become a different sort of messenger was probably an attempt at humor by someone somewhere. Perhaps not a coincidence. Franky didn’t believe in coincidences, and he didn’t give any of this much thought, except to smile now and then to himself about this private joke, and to look up and nod to his Uncle Sal, wherever he was—probably not up, if he gave it any thought, which he did not.

If he were to be honest, also unlikely, he would have had to admit that his job did not always entail sending a message. At times, it did. But, at times, his job was to clean up a mess, to make it go away. Maybe he should then be called a janitor or a cleaner, or maybe a magician, since the mess often simply disappeared.

He sang softly to his orchids, pouring just a little bit of lukewarm water into each of their containers. Today, he was doing both jobs—he was sending a message, which also involved a cleanup. Rare, but it happened.

He added water to his annuals and to their miniature ground cover, smiling and singing softly. “I see trees so green, red roses, too. I see them bloom for me and you. And I think to myself what a wonderful world …”

In the past, he’d had to be careful about keeping track of the routes he took to his destinations and who might have seen him on the way. But now, because of this corona virus pandemic, he wore a face mask, covering the lower half of his face. It was, in fact, a bandana, and at any other point in his life, he could only have worn a bandana over his face if it were Halloween, or if he were robbing a bank, something he had never done … yet. He was always open to new experiences.

Today, people all over were wearing masks, as medical authorities suggested. This virus was no joke.

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