Henry's seen it before though

The Washams, are quiet, innocent enough to look dumb, but not dumb. Mrs. Washam you are the sweetest creature on this earth. I'm not in love with you. I just.. think you're beautiful. Your husband doesn't say a word, he catatonic. His eyes bulge out of his head, his hair tangled, never combed. His posture is formative. You help him eat, never press conversation. No one pays attention to you guys.

Henry's seen it before though.

One day though, when I wasn't even bothering to look, you were laughing. He had whispered in your ear. The silent stoic Robert Washam uttered a humorous phrase to Margaret. They don't even share rooms anymore. They are separate at night and dine together, but Margaret, you'd be liar if you weren't looking over your shoulder for him when you enter the dining room early. That's love. Mrs. Washam when he goes, you're going to be fine. You're going to take each last day that is yours and walk forward. Maybe the other ladies will reach out to you, you'll take it, its kind of them. Life will roll on until your day.

[Henry stands outside greeting the members of this congregation for the first time. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed what Henry had to say. In fact the above may need to be sensationalized a bit. What Henry did today was surpass age and life experience. Henry made the folks of this particular congregation touched and moved in a unique way. Henry is young, unknown, but his sermon was relate able and thus these people felt they could trust him by using his principles in their own relationships. An old lady leads her family in walking up to Henry to tell him of how happy he has made her.]
Old Lady: Mr. Trotter, I just had to tell you. You made me feel the best I've felt since Winston passed, my husband.
[As she speaks her family creeps up behind her as if they are the parents of a young and excited 6 year-old. She is one of those elders who holds their own with just a look and Henry sees this look despite what the others may see. To the world this is seen as Henry establishing a relationship with the public and thus binding them with God and acting as a vessel. Between the lady and Henry though there is a very different understanding. Both individual are not on the same page, but they are both playing separate roles. She has age and Henry does not. Henry notices that absence, doesn't try to get cocky and pretend he knows where she is coming from. If anything Henry tries to figure out how he can be sure about what he said today. Her family smiles at Henry and they start to move, but Henry and the lady are still in eye contact. Her eyes show appreciation and tell Henry he has promise keep trying son, you'll be brilliant. Henry's eyes keep on her, as if she is some type of messiah. Here's the deal, maybe we aren't remembering this as well as cameras, but the point is to get the heart of what this moment did for Henry. The look in her eyes moved Henry farther in his life than he had been moved before. Those eyes wouldn't pass Henry along straight to success. Advice comes more in knowing glances and last words than physical pushes by loved ones. That lady is long dead, but Henry remembers her better than his best sermon.

More...

I added this to the entry called "Total" so my English piece would make the word requirement of 1,300. Nothing special. I feel kind of silly posting this, actually.

“Young lady, do you have a watch I could borrow?” The man speaking to me from the other side of the counter is probably in his late eighties. He is at that stage of old when all the mottled skin on your face just seems to fold over another pallet of skin. His eyes seem to barely be able to make out anything from behind the drooping skin that has become his eyelids. His glasses are comically huge for eyes so small, big aviators that were popular thirty years ago, if that. Working here has shown me age in every possible respect—from people who age only on the outside, to those whose personalities sour as much as their skin. This man, at least, is nice. He is one of the many old men who seem to make it their duty in age to tell jokes to all the girls who work behind store counters.

“I don’t have a watch actually, sorry,” I reply not unkindly to this obvious joke opener. I hate these jokes because they are never funny and almost always very sad.

The man’s eyes widen a little behind his skin flaps and he says, “Well that’s a shame, because I sure am running out of time!” His stomach shakes with his laughter and he smiles and I fake my “ha, ha, ha” because I want him to feel good after telling his joke. I can’t make much difference in this man’s life, but I can at least laugh instead of leaving an awkward silence for this man to mull over as he walks out the door.  So I laugh and he laughs and then I grab his usual pack of cigarettes (Misty Ultralight Menthol 120’s, $4.25) and he pays (like he always does) with $20.25. He walks out the door and I don’t spend too much time thinking about the experience. The whole thing lasted less than three minutes and would probably happen again very soon.

A Rabbit and A Dragon

Once upon a time, there was a rabbit came along.
And he goes for a walk.
And he saw the dragon chasing him.

And he run away from him.
And he stopped
and looked to see if he's happy.

He is happy so he's friends with him.

And trembly after after.
The end.