The Forgotten Man

Joseph sighed as another shift came to an end and he finally clocked out. It was cool and dark outside in stark contrast to the bright lights and heat of the factory. He opened the car doors from across the car park so his headlights would illuminate the way. A few others drove past him and he gave his usual genial wave.

Autopilot must have kicked in as he found himself driving the country roads on his way home. The mindless mulch on the radio didn’t agree with him so it was turned off in favor of road noise. Ahead of him was a three kilometer straight stretch with fields either side. In his younger days this would have been the point where he floored the car to see how fast he could go; his sensibilities now realised this was a bad idea on so many levels. At the end of the straight the road bent sharply to the right, Joseph slowed down and as his lights drifted around a figure was illuminated. The person held out a thumb and Joseph found himself pulling over.

‘Where you goin?’ Joseph called through the window.

‘Next town, we need to catch a bus to the city’  came the reply.

Joseph felt an air of calm and acceptance wash over him and he asked the figure to get in. He wasn’t sure if he had drifted off or was just concentrating, it seemed possible it was a mixture of both but he found himself some ten miles further on than he needed to be. A slight drizzle had arrived and the windscreen wipers moved back and forth in a hypnotic dance.

Instinct took over and he turned off of the dual carriageway stopping at the junction lights. He glanced over at his passenger who had said nothing for the entire journey and calmly registered that he had a cat curled up on his lap. It seemed to know he was looking and opened an eye.

‘The lights have changed.’

Joseph nodded and drove on. After a brief pause it occurred to him that the man had not spoken. His lips had not moved nor had any sound emerged from him.

‘Don’t worry about it, the turning you want is the third on the left after the roundabout.’ The turning revealed itself as the entrance to a hospital. Joseph drove up to the entrance of A and E and stopped. The man, who still had not said anything, opened the door, the cat jumped off his lap and out of the car. As soon as the man got out the cat jumped back in as the door was closed behind it.

‘Take me home, I need to eat something.’

As Joseph drove off a small part of his subconscious pinged.

© 2021 Andrew Hattam