Strangers on the Shore — The Firefly pt.9

“At least now you know. Being a parent is never easy I believe” I reassured him. Because it did, it was a fact I learned late in life, that being a parent was as hard as being a child. The difference was only in what kind of aspect. People might said being a parent was surely much harder, but looked at the Store Owner’s daughter. Was it easy being misunderstood by adults around you? Many would said it was indeed hard but not on par with being a parent. Funny thing was everyone experienced it all, no one could be a parent without being a child of someone first. No one had it easy, only when and what which differentiated each of our hardship.

Youngman looked composed with a hint of daze, it seemed like he tried to gained his composure back. From what I saw before I thought he might had been in Store Owner’s daughter’s shoes, considering he also said that he was an outcast too at school. Maybe similar things happened to him back then. I chose to let him alone with his mind. At the other side Oldman still offering understanding look to gloomy Store Owner.

Then silence came between us, rather than awkward silence like before, this time it more like an understanding silence. A space you gave to people to sort their mind, to get the calm back, or simply just you wanted to be in silence.

In this moment I felt as if I was standing in a big bubble with this men, a clear, transparent, and calm bubble. While outside the bubble peoples cheering and laughing loudly, but the noise never really reached inside this bubble. The crowds’ clothes colors created nice mixture of palette, natural with some pops of neon, somehow it fitted the ambience though. For a second the sight looked like there was a glitch in a calm nice portrait, and for another second it looked like the dispersion on the bubble surface. Whatever it was, it looked and felt nice. The invisible barrier filtered out the emotions too, the glaring lights and festive music still could not matched the gloomy atmosphere we had here. What a funny night. Lights from food trucks and tents along the shore line from afar gave a fuzzy touch to the picture around us.

I turned to Youngman beside me and he already look composed compared to minutes before, so do Store Owner even though his eyes still reflecting a look of regret. The similar look I had for months or even years, maybe that was why I was so invested his story since then, I meant I was a stranger to him. Usually I never cared much about others because mine was already overwhelming myself. Was it the town, was it the time, was it the ambience, was it the sentiment, or what, I could not figure it out. But, this was not that bad, I felt somehow I was a better person just because I offered some honest yet meaningless consolation to someone. I felt good.