Freddie

Freddie

“Hey! Hey lady! Did you drop something?”

Velda turned slightly to see who was talking to who. There was a young boy there, nobody else. He was looking right at her. “Excuse me?” she said quietly.

“Did you drop something?” he said again.

“I don’t think so,” she said turning back.

“I think you did…” the voice came again.

Velda had heard many stories of kids stealing from old ladies and she was not planning to be one of them. She kept walking.

Suddenly, something touched her arm. “Hey! Don’t you touch me!” she said in a serious voice. “Are you trying to trick me?”


The hand snapped back, but the boy was still walking fast to stay with her. “No, really, I think you dropped this,” and he held up a hanky. “It’s so soft, I didn’t want you to lose it.”

Velda looked at the hanky, it was her hanky. It was the one she always carried because Fred had given it to her on their first date.

“Oh my… I’m so sorry. Thank you! That hanky is very special to me, I would hate to have lost it!” As she took it gently into her hand, the boy grabbed her purse and ran.

She watched him run, and shook her head. Yes, he got the purse, but there was nothing in it but a little money. The hanky was worth so much more, especially now since she lost Fred. As she turned to walk away, she heard him yell to her. “I’m sorry! I’m so hungry! I’m glad you got your hanky back!”

And she yelled back, “Thank you! Enjoy your food, maybe we’ll meet again!”

They did, many more times, and she always gave him money for food. And his name was Freddie. Kismet.