10 Days

As an old man, Adam has nothing to do except sitting in his small warm house by himself. Sometimes reading and sometimes watching TV. Life has completely been changed and everything has become different to him since he retired. His friends just stopped asking about him unless they wanted something. He started wondering if there was something wrong with him; and by time Adam got along with that. The loneliness that surrounded him was too intense to stand which made him very sensitive. Everything became touching to his heart, and he could easily get hurt by anything. His eyes were always full of tears that couldn't be shed because of his pride. It has been a while since the last time he shaved his Beard, and he became very careless about his look. Adam's thought was "since no one cares about me why should I care about anyone". However, having breakfast in the nearby dining and reading the newspaper was his only escape. One morning and while he was heading to the dining, his eyes laid on a beautiful lady who was standing on the corner and she smiled for him. He didn't pay her attention as he thought no one would actually notice such an untidy old man, so he continued his way. The next day the beautiful lady was standing exactly in the same place and she smiled for him again. He smiled back and entered the dining. "She smiled for me" said Adam to himself. After he finished his breakfast he went back to his house quickly, and started thinking of that beautiful lady and dreaming of a sweet relationship. Even though she only smiled, that meant a lot to him. Day after day, she kept smiling for Adam and he was only smiling back, but that was bigger than what it looked like. It was like a bittersweet taste of life… yes she brought hope back to Adam. He shaved his beard and cleaned up himself. Eight days have passed on that scenario, but in every night Adam dreamed about her smile and he felt that he just needed to know her name. In the ninth day, he finally decided to talk to her, and like a child who is excited the night before the Christmas, Adam prepared his favorite black suit before he went to bed. He thought of every single detail, and he phrased the sweetest words to say and with a smile he slept. In the morning, in the same place and with a smile, he walked to her. But while he was getting closer it seemed like she was fading away, and once he became close, she vanished. Adam wasn't very shocked, because he realized that it was just his imagination, and he realized too that it is not family nor friends who create hope. Hope is inside every one of us, but we only need to search for it.

The end