Storytelling Sunday - The Man who Wasn't There

It's Storytelling Sunday time again. So come on in! I was just about to start..

When it gets to this time of year, and the nights get cold and the darkness starts to come down before teatime, I always think back to one foggy night when the children were little..

The house. The gate.

It wasn't late, just after seven, probably, when we heard a knock on the front door.

We hadn't been living in the house very long, so it was still a thrill to make our way down the hall and discover who had found us. But, this time, when I opened the door, I couldn't see anyone at first. It was so very, very foggy. Cold. Dark. And then, suddenly, without a sound, out of the mist appeared a little old man. He was standing on our doorstep and he was wearing a crumpled overcoat and the kind of hat a dad would have worn to work many years ago. He said nothing, nothing at all.

We looked at each other and then, with a quick flick of his hand, he gestured for something to write on. I ran for a notebook and pencil, don't know why really, and I held it out to him and he took it. When he handed it back I could one short sentence:

"Please, one pound for bus fare home."

I could spare a pound, I thought, for a man who needed to find his way home. So I offered him one from my pocket and he took it, tipped his hat at me, turned on his heel and disappeared down the path. As the gate clicked I found The Accountant standing behind me. "Why would he come here?" he said. "We're almost at the end of the road. Wouldn't any of the other houses have been closer? Did he really need a pound for a bus?"

And he opened the gate with another click and took a few steps down the street. The man had completely disappeared. Through the fog we looked, right to the bottom of the road, right to the bus stop. There was nobody there. Not a soul, of any kind.

We never saw him again, that gentleman who tipped his hat but didn't speak. He came out of the fog and the fog carried him away again. But I hope we did help him to find his way home. Wherever that was...

And that's my story for today. Why not add one of your own below? It doesn't have to be big, it doesn't have to be clever. We are interested in any little memory you would like to share, today or any day for the rest of this week, but please do remember add a link back here so that your readers can join in too. The linky stays open just for you!