Excerpts From " A Pathfinders Dilemma – Mr. Louhan" Page 31 The man contemplated his options. He came to find a better life as most people often do from third world countries with struggling economies. He had just found out the most shocking news of the year. He thought he had a hostess who would allow him stay for a few weeks, before he found employment, but as she stood in the doorway, in this cold winter night and told him, “no room here’, he wandered what he will do next. As he turned from away from mellison rd, he felt no anger only alarm as to where he might find accommodation for this night and for subsequent days, will he get employment? He knew he had very limited amount on him, £400.00 seems a lot of money but it really is very inadequate he thought for someone without a house and employment. He was for a time oblivious to people or anything around him; he walked back trying to recall the route to the bus station two long blocks away across the street at Brinkley Street. He felt thirsty, he suddenly remembered he had not had lunch, he left the docks about 10.30am, and now as he glanced at his watch it was sometime after 5pm, he stopped at the café on Mellison rd and Mitcham Street, and paid £1.50 for a Fentimans Ginger Beer. By the time he got to the bust stop on Bickley Street (Stop P) it was 6.40pm, the route time table had the next bus leaving at 7.pm. He sat on the cold bench inside the station and started to look through the bus schedule. Page 32 Back in his seat, he looked at his route maps again, he would have change to a bus that can get him to kessingnton, Knightsbridge and then to Hyde Park. He got to Yiar Edwards Inn about 10 pm, and quickly checked into one of their economy rooms. He took off his shoes and lay stretched out on the bed with all his clothes on. Thinking about what lay ahead the next day, he got up picked up the phone next to his bed…. The voice on the other end said front desk. He asked if he could eat in his room, after listening to the cost of what was available he requested a warm sandwich, and refused to buy any drinks. He remembered the other bottle of Fentimans, he bought earlier, “better to start spending less right now”, he thought. Dinner came; he ate and got under the warm soft sheets. It felt very soothing and comfortable; it is worth the £45.00, he thought. He set the alarm to 6.45am, it will be Saturday and he would have had just over 6 hours rest. He noticed the gold platted wooden pallet lining all around the rooms ceilings, then he thought how this was different to the dorm of the boat that took him to London earlier that afternoon, painted in plain white………… he heard something harsh jar him from his thoughts, what was it? He must have dozed off; it was the alarm clock; could it be 7 am already? He was just trying to go to sleep, he opened his eyes and squinted to see the sun shine through the curtains, it was 6.49am, he must have slept. He got up. Page 33 He dialed again after a few minutes, this time Leo Walali picked up after two rings, he quickly recognized his voice and sounded surprised, but said he was very delighted that he finally got to London, and was sorry to hear he was having a difficult time…… He listened as Leo Walali gave him directions to his house, and Leo wanted him to delay coming till late afternoon as neither he or his wife will be at home all morning, he thanked Leo and put the phone down. A slight drizzle outside the bus stop distracted him, he felt calm, “it does rain here too”, he thought as he watched umbrellas go up and coat collars turned up. The bus approached in the distance, he got in line with the others. He fumbled in his wallet as he asked the driver “how much”, he started handing over a £10.00 note when his eyes caught a sign saying “exact fare only”, he reached in his pocket and handed out £1.35 He strolled in to find a seat by the window; it is more restrictive when you have to get up for others to get off the bus. He got in a seat thankful to finally get out of the cold. He had to find the cheapest and safe hotel room tonight, he thought the easiest way to do this will be to get a central location, names trickled to his mind: Trafalgar, Brixton, kessingnton, Mayfair, shepherds bush, Hyde Park, he settled on Hyde Park. He remembered learning that if you asked the driver to alert you when you get your stop, he will stop for you… He got up…” can you let me know, when you get to tooting bec? The driver nodded. Page 34 He rubbed his eyes and walked to the window at the foot of his bed, to look out through the window at the street. He saw a young couple walk past his window hand in hand, they seemed happy together. His room must be close to ground level, he thought, could this be why he was not at face level with the people passing by out on the street, he had to look up to see their faces, he looked to the right and saw a truck sweeping the street, now that was different, he was used to people sweeping, but a machine that sweeps, that looked clever. He opened the window halfway, the breeze brushed against his face, cold refreshing. He saw a residue of the night on the ground, paper debris, fallen tree leaves, some soft drink and beer cans, cigarette butts, all wet from last night’s rain, good thing, the machine sweeper had its work cut out for it. He glanced past a group of teenage looking kids, walking and talking loud, they appeared to be returning from, not a party since they wore a similar uniform, maybe some sort of work engagement, were they musicians, they seemed a little young to be a singing group, at the trees lining up the street, trees with dry leaves – fascinating – they looked orderly as if by design, the base of the trees had a circular guard perhaps to protect its root from breakage…. He snapped back to reality, he needed to call for help, he decided to call his friend Meishana, to request Mr. and Mrs. Walali’s phone number. They were one of the nicest people he knew. Mr. Walali had told him several times “if you need any help if you get to London, look us up we will help if we can. He picked up the phone, and listened as a voice on the other end said “front desk” and listened as the voice reminded him of the cost of phone calls from his room to local metro London numbers, he thanked her and hung up. He picked up the phone again, and called Meishana, she was sorry for his disappointment and gave him Mr. and Mrs Walali’s phone number, she was on her way to work she said, she would have offered for him to stay at her apartment but her room-mate, Quan, a Caucasian/Indian girl would not agree, besides the apartment too small. She requested he call after speaking with the Walali’s to let her know what they said. He dialed the number she gave him, it rang several times but no one picked up. Page 36 There had been an alert to all crew and passenger the night before to stay away from the deck as there had been a forecast of storm beginning early morning and lasting 12 to 18 hours. The storm had forced them to have a dry breakfast of corn flakes, toast, boiled eggs, or sardines. That morning breakfast was an adventure, everyone walked, no they staggered like drunkards across the dining hall, he watched as cups, bowls, and cutleries scampered from the head of the table to the other end of the table, he decided to eat in his room. So did his roommate adwel. They ate and talked about how hard it must be for the chef make a meal with his pots and food constantly running from him. That afternoon they agreed to ping pong. He was amazed at the purity of the air the morning after the storm, he stood on the deck as the ship waded the foamy white water, the chilly, refreshing wind slapping against his face; to the side of the ship there seemed to be something in the water racing to catch up with the ship, it seemed to do it with ease, soon he saw it up close, a dolphin running ahead of several others. Just as he stuck his head out the dolphin seem to increase speed and broke off with the rest, it leaped suddenly into the air, and as if in a competition another dolphin followed and did a double flip, completely fascinating, he had never seen a dolphin up close and now it seemed they were putting up special performance for him. He looked into the horizon and thought this is a perk of travel, the sea ahead seemed to merge with the sky, so that they both Sea and sky were one and the same. He looked up, grabbed the decks railing with both hands, thankful for moments like this, and feeling a pleasantly warm, he said a prayer. God he thought cannot be cruel if he made such masterpiece and cohesion! And yet here he was, was it not discontent, un-ending chaos that med him get up? He was absolutely certain in his mind that this moment will carry his core till it was all over and done. Page 37 The room was now filled with light; he got up and closed the window. The sunlight although very bright was deceptively cold. This is a nice room he thought, the bed sheet a burgundy flowered cotton, with peach cream linings, the closet he had not opened it since his arrival, the attendant had mentioned it, saying it contained a few cloth hangers, iron, and ironing board. He would not need it since he will leave in less than six hours. Check out time was three pm, he walked to the bathroom very small he thought, stuck his head in, there was a shower, toilet, sink, all in light blue except for the floor which was in cream white, there was a small size toothpaste, he squeezed it on his forefinger and stuck in his mouth. He walked back to his suite-case to open side panel and get his tooth brush, he walked back to the bathroom brushing his teeth with swift top to down movements, and he undressed and got in the shower. He walked to the lobby into the lobby in time to catch breakfast that was almost over, some of the guests were yet eating; the complimentary breakfast included boiled eggs, cornflakes, muffins, milk, juice, tea, and coffee. All in smaller portions than he was used to and as he sat down comfortably, he thought different from also from having to contend with the rocking of at breakfast on the ship, because they were heading into turbulent weather. He picked up a muffin and recalled that time they had to stay in bed for over three hours because they were in the middle of a storm over the Bay of Biscay.
Posted on: Fri, 23 Aug 2013 21:16:36 +0000
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