Henry's Apostrophe

Henry Nuville took a sip of his cinnamon latte and immediately cringed. For most people,it would have been quite acceptable as lattes go, but Henry had a strict philosophy regarding coffee and it dictated scalding hot or nothing at all. Spotting the nearest trash can, he walked over and dejectedly dumped almost half a cup of good, nearly hot caffeine into it. Then he placed the small package he carried under his arm and moved on.

The park was nearly empty, which is the way Henry liked it, but it wouldn't remain that way for long. He felt a cold wind blow over him and he turned for the nearest exit. There were dark clouds forming above and Henry knew rain was minutes away. Another miserable day in a miserable town.

Shaking his head, Henry left the park and continued his stroll along the sidewalk, the day slowly darkening around him, the wind assaulting his face and growing ever more impertinent. There was a newspaper on the bench at the bus stop, abandoned by some careless businessman no doubt. The headline read "Highway pileup kills seven" accompanied by a photo of one of the victims. It was a small redheaded boy. Henry glanced at the headline and kept walking, tightening his grip on the small package under his arm.

A block and a half later he felt the first drops of rain and hastened his pace. He cursed himself for leaving his umbrella at home that morning. Then again, the rain was just another inconvenience in a long list of grievances for Henry. Another small stain on the filthy carpet of his life. Another minor glitch in a deeply glitched system. But today, he need not worry about catching a cold. Just another small thorn on his side.

If only there were roses.

Henry walked on, gripping the small package like the fate of the world depended on it. He ignored the rain. He ignored the noisy people on the street. He ignored the merchants peddling trinkets from within their stalls on the sidewalk. He ignored the small black dog with spotted white ears that followed him for a good portion of his walk.

An attractive woman in a blue jumpsuit walked past him. Her perfume was strong and overwhelming, something cheap and unpleasant. Something familiar, yes, but probably she had found it at the flea market on Main Street. The woman had an umbrella with yellow flowers. It was just another reason for Henry to dislike her. He ignored her too.

Three blocks and ten minutes later, Henry walked across his front lawn and entered his home. He walked into the living room and straight past a wall where a gallery of photos hung, covered in a thin layer of dust. Among them, there were photos of a much younger Henry. He was smiling in most of these. There were photos of Henry's parents, his grandparents and even his two sisters, Laura and Jackie.

There was no wife, however. No photos of children. Henry had none. No wedding photos, vacations in Disneyland or school science fairs. In one of the photos there was a small dog he had once owned but Henry couldn't remember his name.

Henry didn't glance at the photos on the wall. He walked right past them like he always did and moved on to the kitchen, where he placed the small package on the counter. There was a small label on the front of the package. "Jack Anvil Guns & Ammo".

The fridge was well stocked as always. Henry's sister, Laura, came by once a week to check on his pantry and ask him when he was going to take a nice girl to dinner. Henry no longer bothered to tell her no woman would ever come near him. Not even that fool next door, Lisa Cardinal, who glared at Henry through her window every time he took out the trash. Henry didn't know why, but he was sure she hated him.

Well, she wasn't alone, that much was certain. Henry pushed aside a jar of blueberry jelly and a bottle of Simply Orange until he found what he needed, a bottle of Miller Lite.

Five minutes later he was in his bedroom, sitting silently on the bed. The bottle of beer was half empty. The box on top of the kitchen counter was now also empty. Henry had sat on that prime spot of the bed often over the years, because he could see the street from there. But there was nothing to see today. The blinds were closed. The small plasma tv on top of the dresser was dark and silent. And now the bottle of Miller Lite was empty.

Henry placed the empty bottle carefully on the night table and placed the barrel of the gun against the side of his head. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. An image floated before him. Then another. Something he had missed earlier. Something he had missed for years. Photos on a wall.

Henry opened his eyes.

When he was younger, he had seen a movie called Hook, where Robin Williams played an aging Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman took the role of his nemesis, Captain Hook. There were many things that had stayed with Henry from that film, including William's willingness to wear an outfit no man his age could possibly look good in. But he also remembered a scene where Captain Hook schemes with his loyal First Mate, Mr. Smee, who tells him at one point that he's had an "apostrophe". Captain Hook wearily replies, "I think you mean an epiphany."

An epiphany. A light that suddenly turns on in your mind, brightly illuminating things that you could not previously see.

Sitting on the edge of that bed, Henry suddenly saw rays of sunshine breaking through the blinds, illuminating the entire room. An epiphany. A realization. He remembered the photos on the wall. Why had he not seen them in so long? He stood up and walked back to the living room.

He stood in front of this dust-covered gallery and just looked over the images. It didn't click at first, but gradually, he began to see his life in eight by tens and five by sevens and four by sixes and then saw something amazing. Were far more smiles in those photos than he could remember. So many smiles, in fact.

There was a smile on the face of young Henry as he opened presents for his fourth Christmas. There was a smile as he learned to ride his first bike. There was a smile as he stood in front of his house in a tuxedo, moments before taking Jennifer Blake to the prom. What a wonderful, awkward night it was. There were smiles all around as the family gathered around Henry, who stood in a ridiculous graduation gown and then again as they all got ready to pack themselves into an RV for a post-graduation road trip.

He also noticed that the small dog was in more than one photo. He now remembered the dog had been a family pet for years. A little black mutt. What was his name? He struggled to remember. Onyx! He could recall the tears he had shed when Onyx eventually succumbed to old age. He had been a loyal friend.

But as he stood before this tapestry of his life in photos, Henry saw for the first time that these scenes formed a story and in this story, there was far more laughter than tears. There was far more joy than sorrow. At least for as long as he had made it so. There was so much he had forgotten. But it was all coming back. It was all becoming clear once more. An epiphany.

Still carrying his epiphany with him, he walked away from the wall of memories and out the front door.

Outside, the rain was still falling and Henry had, once more, left his umbrella behind. But this time he didn't mind. In spite of the rain, the sun was out and the drops of water glistened in the sunshine like a million sparkles all around him. Henry stood on the steps of his front door for a moment, watching those sparks of rain fill the world with magic and then walked towards the park.

Along the street, the merchants were still peddling their wares and trinkets in their stalls. Henry stopped at every single one and admired the selection. Hand-made necklaces, wind chimes of all forms and colors, small electronics and even a few unidentifiable objects of questionable origin. Having left his wallet behind, Henry could only browse, but this was not a day for shopping. This was a day for seeing the world as he had not seen it in years. A day of epiphany.

Soon his stroll took him back to the bus stop. The newspaper was still on the bench, but someone had flipped it over and now the headline read "Family of four saved from fire by neighbor's heroism." There was also a side bar listing recent wedding engagements. There were fourteen of them.

Henry smiled and walked on. He could hear sirens in the distance as he entered the park, but the tranquility that surrounded him made everything else instantly trivial.

As he strolled along the path, he came across the small black dog that had followed him earlier. This time, Henry smiled and waved hello. The dog wagged his tail and followed merrily along as he had before. It wasn't long before Henry found himself standing by the trash can where his half-full cup of latte had been discarded. It was still there, not even spilled. It just sat inside the container, perfect and new. Henry stared at this abandoned cup, and felt a tinge of sadness as he wondered, how much of his life he had discarded just for not being the right temperature.

The park was beginning to fill with the evening crowd and so Henry returned to the sidewalk and headed for home. The sirens were louder now, and he could see a commotion ahead. As he got closer, he could discern an ambulance and several police officers attempting to disperse a small but growing crowd of onlookers.

Approaching the gathering, something caught his attention near the front of the group. The woman in the blue jumpsuit was standing there, visibly distressed, as she spoke with one of the police officers. At one point she turned her face and Henry realized she was Lisa Cardinal, his impertinent neighbor. She was being questioned by the officer, but there were tears in her eyes.

A commotion moved through the crowd. Two paramedics were bringing out a gurney, a white sheet concealing the lifeless form laying on it. Lisa Cardinal gasped and placed a hand over her mouth. Her tears flowed freely now, and after a moment, she turned away, unable to look any longer as the EMS workers loaded the cadaver into the ambulance.

An officer came nearby but as Henry tried to get his attention, he felt something move next to him. He looked down and realized the small black dog was sitting at his feet, wagging his tail. When he looked back up, the officer had moved on and Lisa Cardinal was standing in front of him, eyes still swelling with tears. Not knowing what he would say, Henry opened his mouth anyway, but before he could speak, Lisa started walking.

She walked straight at him.

And then she walked right through him.

In stunned silence Henry stumbled through the crowd until he was standing next to the ambulance, where a paramedic was questioning an elderly man in a dark jacket with the word CORONER across the back.

-"Have you id'd the body?" asked the paramedic.

-"Yes indeed," replied the coroner. The was sadness in his voice. "We found his wallet on the bed next to him, along with the gun. His name was Henry. Henry Nuville."

For what seemed like centuries, Henry could only stand in dumbfounded silence. Around him, the paramedics and police officers went about their duties and then drove away. The coroner completed his paperwork and moved on to the next case. The crowd slowly dispersed and Lisa Cardinal returned to her home next door.

Soon, Henry was standing alone on his perfectly manicured lawn. The world kept moving.

Henry looked at his house, dark and alone. He saw the rain start to fall all around him once more, the drops passing right through him.

Henry closed his eyes and sighed. Then he smiled, turned around and walked away. But as he reached the sidewalk, he looked back. The small dog was still sitting on the lawn, looking at the house.

Henry whistled lightly and called out, "Come along Onyx!"

Then they both strolled leisurely towards the park.