the small white van
An old, small white van has been parked in the street opposite for about two months and once or twice a day a tall thinly built young man wearing a wide-brimmed hat slowly walks down the road and unlocks the passenger side door; sometimes a young woman emerges, sometimes not. One day I watched as they stood in the road behind the van seemingly comforting each other in a close embrace. Her head against his chest. His arms around her. My wife thinks they are husband and wife.
There are no lights visible in the old van at night and neither is there inside a much larger van parked now for six months alongside a nearby motel. One man lives in there and most days he takes his bike and pedals away in the morning to return mid-afternoon. When he walks he does so slowly, perhaps he has a hip problem.
Two days ago a newer small white van was parked fifty feet away from the older one and the young man spent an hour standing on the road talking to someone in the driver’s seat. He was holding one hand against the side of his face and appeared to be wiping his eyes as if weeping. When he opened the door the young woman stepped out and both walked towards the old van.
She was openly weeping.
Some tragedy had beset them.
Perhaps they had a child in the local hospital and were unable to afford a motel room for the duration of the child’s illness. Perhaps they had no friends, no family. Perhaps that was the reason why they stayed for so long in the van. Perhaps the hospital was where they spent their days, by a child’s bedside.
Perhaps the child died.
Now both the vans are parked nose to tail and the young man is doing a street-side detail on the older van after transferring all its contents to the newer one. There is no sign of the young woman.
Last night I dreamed of standing on a high clifftop watching about a dozen surfers attacking clean big barrels on a reef directly below. Two little boys were standing close to the edge in front of me and just as I was about to shepherd them back one took a step and went over. He made no sound.
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