Boy In The Photograph

B is for

Boy In The Photograph
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Jack Anderson was a cynic.Not a believer in supernatural bumps in the
night.He was a plain speaker and plain thinker who thought that life
was too serious to muck about.He lived in an ordinary flat in the
ordinary town of Kilmaurs.
One day he was cleaning the stairs and hallway as it was his turn.He
heard the huffing and puffing of his old neighbour Mrs. Ross slowly
coming up stairs laden with shopping bags.
"I,ll get those for you" said Jack and he took the bags from her.She
didn,t keep- well anyway thought Jack.
"Oh thanks ,son that,s guid o, ye" said an exhausted Mrs.Ross.She
looked for her door key while Jack carried the heavy Tesco bags to her
door.
As she put the key into the lock Jack asked about her husband who also
was in poor health.
"Very sad son he disnae have longto go" she sniffled.
When she was in her hallway Jack handed her bags over to her."The
doctor is due in today to see him"she said.
"Well tell him I,m asking after him" said Jack and whn Mrs Ross shut
the door he went back to finish cleaning the hall.As he mopped up he
thought about old Mr.Ross and how ill he had always been with heart
problems.Once he had told Jack that he went all the wa to South Africa
in 1971 for an operation by Dr. Chritiaan barnard the world famous
cardiologist.Jack reflected on how lucky he was.Hardly ever ill.The old
soul thought Jack.
He finished cleaning and went into his flat to catch up on some reading
He sat down with a Stephen King novel and after about half an hour he
dozed off.At about 3,o,clock he woke up with a start.After rubbing his
eyes he remembered that he had some rubbish to take out to the bins in
the backyard.He went into the kitchen picked up a black bin bag crammed
with garbage and went downstairs.He walked into the communal yard which
was at the back of the flats.The binmen were due next day so there were
a lot of bags piled on top of each other.As he threw the bag on the
heaphe sensed a presence behind him.He quickly turned around.
"Jesus" he gasped.
A young boy in a school uniform stood there just looking at him.
"You scared the shit ot of me"said Jack who really was jumpy.
The young boy was somehow out of place.More out of time.No one wore
uniforms any more.He probably went to a posh private school thought
Jack but there were none nearby.The boy had short hair cut with a razor
at the sides and it looked like someone had used a pudding bowl to
shape it.Jack had only seen such styles in films from the thirties and
forties.
"Are you lost pal?"asked jack.
"Not anymore"replied the boy.
Jack further noticed that he was wearing short trousers and grey knee
length socks.He tried to think what kind of school still had the pupils
wearing short trousers.The boy shook his head and turned to go.A loud
crash behind Jack startled him and he turned round.The binbags had
collapsed.He turned back round but the boy was gone.Jack assumed that
he had gone through the entry.He shrugged and went back upstairs to his
flat really spooked by the appearance of the boy.
While he was making a cup of coffe there was a knock on his door.When
he opened it he found Mrs Ross standing there .She had been
crying.
"What,swrong?" he asked.
"Oh son it,s ma Billy, he,s gone." sobbed the old woman.Jack was still
sleepy and it took a minute to sink in.Mrs Ross explained that her
husband had passed away and had been taken away in the hearse.Jack took
her by the arm and led her to her flat.The least he could do was make
her a cup of tea.As they went into her house Jack reflected that he had
never seen the inside before.They had been a very private couple.The
living room was neat and tidy and the curtains were drawn.Jack felt
awkward.He sat down on the big armchair.Beside him was a cabinet with
dozens of old photos on top of it.Mrs Ross went into the small kitchen
to brew up.He told her that he was very sorry about Mr. Ross and he
looked in detail at the photos.They were mainly black and white and
sepia.Smiling faces, seaside antics and people in uniforms.He had seen
the same type at his old gran,s house years ago.Suddenly Jack
stopped.He had seen one of them with a man and woman standing either
side of a small boy.They were in their Sunday best and the boy had on a
uniform.Short trusers, socks up to the knees and a severe pudding bowl
haircut.It was the boy in the back yard no doubt.
"Is that Mr Ross in the picture with his mum and dad?"said Jack as Mrs
Ross came through with a cup of tea."Aye son he was a real smasher
then"answered the old woman who sat down acrss from him."Do you have a
grandson who looks like his grandpa?"said Jack
"aw son we never had afamily" replied Mrs Ross sipping her tea and
wiping her eyes ith a handkerchief.Jack,s mind raced.The boy that he
had briefly met was the spitting image of the boy in the photograph.No
doubt about it."Mrs Ross when did your husband die?" asked Jack
slowly.He already knew the answer.
"At about three this afternon."she sobbe."He just leaned back and he
was gone".
That was the time Jack had awakened and went with the bin bags out to
the yard.That was the time that he saw the boy.
"It,s funny you should pick that photie"she said."Billy had that one on
his lap when he passed away".
Days passed.Jack was uneasy.Who or what had he seen?Should he tell the
old woman?Had he seen the spirit of the old man manifested as what he
once had been?He went about his business but Jack never told her about
that encounter in the back gardens. .