Welcome to another short story by Cecilia.

In today’s short we will meet a mystery man. Who has taken the pew directly in front of me, every Sunday at the 6am Mass for over 6 months now. My curiosity is growing restless as I continue to ask myself. Who is the man in the pinstriped suit?

In order to appease my curiosity, I’ve decided to write about this mysterious man and who he might be. I mean, it’s not like I can reach over during Mass and ask the gentleman, “Excuse me sir. Who are you and what do you do for a living?”

How weird and uncomfortable would that be? Poor guy’s probably getting shivers as I write this.

Without further delay, Dear Reader. I give you another short story by Cecilia.

 

Who are you, Pinstripe man?

There he is again! Jenny stared at the man kneeing in front of her at Church.

Jenny closed the front door to her house, following her Mom into the entrance.  Another Sunday, another morning Mass attended. Taking off their church shoes then returning their missals to the top drawer, Jenny and her Mom continued into the kitchen.

Jenny pulled out the egg carted and bacon from the refrigerator. “Mom, do you know that man in the suit from Mass?”

Jenny Mom pulled the apron over her head, setting up the pans for breakfast. “Are you talking about the man in the pinstriped suit, who sits in front of us every Sunday, Jenny?”

Jenny nodded her vigorously. “Do you know him? What does he do? Who is he? Why does his clothes has small stripes on them? Why does he limp?”

“Whoa! Slow down sweetie. There could be a lot of reasons for his limp. He could have a bad leg, or he’s still recovering from an accident. Maybe-”

Jenny interrupted. “Maybe he was a spy and saved a bunch of people from a bad guy and was injured during his valiant rescue!”

“I guess that’s possible.” Jenny’s Mom chuckled shrugging. “Or maybe he’s a war Veteran, who received the purple heart medal for his bravery during the last war.” The eggs bubbled, and sputtered as Jenny watched her Mom crack the them into the pan.

Jenny brushed her bangs out of her eyes. “I’ll be right back.” Leaving the kitchen Jenny rushed over to her bookbag in the entrance to grab writing materials. Paper and pen, that’s all she needed to create her mini masterpiece story.

Once Jenny returned to the kitchen she made room on the counter. Pushing all the candles, decorations and flowers to one side of the counter, Jenny set up her writing space.

“Once upon a time-” Jenny scribble the line out. “No, that doesn’t fit.” A few minutes passed as Jenny wrote, scribbled over what she wrote and tried again. “Gahhh…it’s just not working for me right now.”

Jenny’s Mom placed a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon next to her head. Jenny started at the eggs. “My brain feels like this plate of scrambled eggs right now.”

“Eat up sweetie, maybe the eggs will give you strength to write. My poor little blocked writer.” Jenny’s Mom left the kitchen with her plate of food as Jenny sighed.

Five minutes later Jenny’s plate was empty and her tummy was full as well as an entire piece of paper.

Jenny re-read her one page story. Feeling satisfied with the end result.

“Who are you, Pinstriped man?

You walk with a limp, while holding your hat. Into Church you come every Sunday morning, rain or shine.

The suit you wear is pinstriped, black with white thin stripes. The hat you carry has a group of small feathers pinned on one side.

Who are you? Your style is clean, uniform and precise, with small details that make you stand out from the crowd.

You’re limp makes me wonder, did you get injured? If yes, then when and how? Were you wounded in battle, during one of the sad wars? Receiving the purple heart medal for your heroic deeds? Deeds that we are not thanking you for, but we would if we knew. Why the secret?

Were you a spy? Where secrets are you life. A spy for our United States of America perhaps? Injured while also serving your nation. Ending your career in honor and physical therapy. Your doctors and friends not knowing the truth.

Pinstriped man, I have more questions than you would probably want to answer. So I will leave this story open. I have many thoughts on the type of life you could have led, which is what makes you so intriguing. So, until we meet and I ask you my million questions, I will continue to pounder “Who are you, Pinstripe man?

Comment below and let me know what you think of it? Do you have a theory on who the Pinstripe man is?

 

Thank you for reading until the end. As a new blogger any and all support is appreciated and welcome.

Write on~

Cecilia