Photo in the Frame

By Mike Ike Chinwuba

The Photo in the Frame portrays Marks fascinating encounter with an eccentric elderly in the street. His wisdom and compassion drives him to embark on an extraordinary journey. As a result, Mark the Buddhist enters into a dialogue with a number of drifters along the way and enchants them with his masterful Buddhist principles that epitomize the root of his own behavior as a matter of cause induces the transformation and the ultimate fulfillment of their dreams irrespective of their dire circumstances.

An extraordinary depiction of the infinite power of a single mind.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris UK
• Release date: Sep 20, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543487039

Mike Ike Chinwuba

The Author Mike lives in London, he graduated in a London university with a master’s degree. Having travelled extensively and experienced a great deal of life’s tapestry, he has the power to inspire. Mike is a practicing member of the SGI – a Buddhist organisation for value creation: Peace, education and culture. His novels include: A Vow to Change, The Train and the secret Witness and Photo in the Frame.

Book preview

CHAPTER

1

T he night was hostile, the road was long and lonely, Mark was driving amid thunder, lightning and torrential rainfall. He pulled up beside the road in anticipation that haven’s fury would diminish so that he could continue on his journey, suddenly he was aware of a cat sitting on the bonnet of his car peering directly at him. He got out of his car in the pouring rain and gently picked the cat up and put it in the back seat. Just at that moment three other cats jumped into the car in quick succession. Mark then woke up and realised it had all been a dream. He began to wonder if the dream had any significance.

Just before noon of the following day, although the weather was kind but the cloud intermittently struggled to restrict the sun from emerging fully. Mark, a young man of about forty decided to clean out his car which was parked in his drive. The hedge at the end of his drive separated his house from Grape Ville Avenue. The car radio was on and Mark was enthusiastically cleaning out the car’s interior as he sang along with the music.

Suddenly, he heard a very faint and feeble voice calling out young man, to which he paid no attention. Perhaps he did not feel he was that young to be referred to in that way, therefore, he was totally oblivious to the call and carried on cleaning out his car. Moments later the same voice resounded young man, it was still faint and feeble.

This time he hesitantly stopped and gradually turned around and looked up in the direction of the sidewalk which was not far from where his car was parked and saw an old lady with a walking stick leaning against the hedge and gazing at him solemnly. He stared at her in astonishment and discontinued with the cleaning, putting aside all his cleaning stuff, he approached the old lady respectfully,

Hello, and how are you? he asked. Then he noticed she was instantly relieved and felt a sense of accomplishment. He wondered if it was due to the fact that he gave her such a pleasant response and humble attention which she perhaps did not expect. He leaned against his car with his hands folded against his chest, perhaps indicating she would get his full attention. Do you live in this neighbourhood, young man? She asked.

Yes, replied Mark, he pointed at the house just round the corner from where he was standing,

That’s my house, he emphasised.

She realised that Mark was quite relaxed and not perturbed that she had interrupted him from cleaning out his car. It was obvious that he wanted to give her his full attention and time, she was delighted. Nevertheless, she needed to kill time and he was prepared to let her,

I have seen you occasionally getting out of your car or driving off, and you always seemed to be jolly and full of energy, in this age of austerity, money is quite tight and no-one cares about anyone, I guess it is strictly time for self-preservation, no more and no less, she said,

Thank you, he replied, I tend to stay calm and carry on with life irrespective of circumstances, I learned from experience that circumstances do not change because I want them to, they change if one perseveres and takes genuine action to change them, so, I often give prevailing circumstances a good crack and hope for the best, he added.

I wish everyone had your philosophy, young man, said the old lady.

Suddenly she positioned her walking stick on the sidewalk and detached herself from the hedge and began to walk away, turning to Mark,

Thank you for your time young man, I must head to the shops, said the old lady.

He went back to his car and commenced with the cleaning but not with the same enthusiasm, he was now consumed in thinking about the old lady. He wondered if she lived close-by and whether she was a neighbour, Nevertheless, he was pleased that he had given his time. He had conflicting thoughts such as: whether she had any children, grandchildren or great grandchildren, if she lived alone, why did the social services department not provide her with care assistant? It was certain that the brief encounter with her had triggered such conflict of emotions and compassionate concerns.

Three weeks later

On a Friday evening, Mark decided to get his car cleaned as he would be meeting up with friends on the following day to socialise in the restaurant around Wimbledon common, a plush neighbourhood in South west London. The weather was still in the grip of summer, so he got his horse-pipe out and went outside to the drive where the car was parked. As usual he turned his car radio on and began to sing along while he cleaned the car. He was bending down cleaning out the wheels when suddenly he heard the familiar voice again,

Young man

The voice was faint and feeble, Mark stopped and looked up. He was astonished to see the same old lady whom he had met two weeks earlier. She was gracefully dressed in flowery gown and each strand of her hair was in the right place. Although it was a summer’s day, she was wearing a scarf round her neck and leaning against a hedge with the support of her walking stick. However, he was not as surprised as he was at their first meeting but wondered that she appeared at the same place, same time and in the same circumstance. Without any hesitation he joyfully approached her with the intention of making her feel at ease,

Did you get everything that you required from the shops last time? He asked.

Young man, just being able to get to the shops and look around is a delightful accomplishment, even when I do not purchase anything, replied the old lady.

She steadily gazed at him as though she anticipated some comment or at least a question from him but it was not forth coming, he decided to play a good listener and only nodded in affirmative as a response. Then she continued,

When one lays in bed all day and all night, one needs to get out and about, Mark listened with compassionate expression which was clearly noticeable in his demeanor,

Have you got a family young man? She asked.

Yes, replied Mark.

It’s good to have family, she said. She sighed with a deep sense of regret as she detached herself from the hedge and began to walk away,

Very nice to see you again, must not distract you from what you are doing, she said. Mark was still standing on the same spot watching her as she walked to the bottom of the road and stopped beside a telephone box. He was still watching from the distance and had not moved from the spot. The man who was inside the phone box apparently had stayed too long and she was getting impatient as she waited.

Then she erratically marched to the phone box, opened the door and furiously dragged the man out and closed the door behind her and started making a phone call. The man was now standing outside the phone box dazed and horrified, moments later, he took off to make a quick get-away, increasing his steps as he disappeared in the distance. Mark witnessed the incident and was gobsmacked that an old lady whom he thought was helpless was able to frighten a man that way. He returned to his car and continued with the cleaning.

The following day…

It was late morning, Mark was sitting in his lounge talking on the phone and there was a knock on his front door: the knock was weak and indecisive. He ignored it as he was not expecting anyone and definitely not in the habit of opening the door to unscrupulous or uninvited sales people. Then there was another knock, this time it was persistent but still weak, so, he hurried to the front door and opened it, to his amazement the old lady was standing right behind it struggling to fully support herself with her walking stick,

Hello, pleased to see you again, please come in, said Mark.

Not now, she replied. She opened her little bag which she clutched under her left arm, rummaged inside the bag and retrieved a set of keys which she emphatically held out to him,

My house keys, my house is number fifty-one, Grape Ville Avenue, it is for you to enter as you please and sort out my letters when they arrive in the post, also to collect my prescriptions from my doctor and send them to me fortnightly, said the old lady. She forcibly put the keys into Mark’s hand,

I trust you! She added. Reluctantly holding the set of keys in his hand, he was instantly dazed with combined expressions of shock, bewilderment and fear,

I will be going on holidays to Israel, She continued.

When? Asked Mark.

This afternoon, replied the old lady.

Alone? enquired Mark.

Yes, through Gatwick Airport, she replied.

How do you intend to get to the airport? asked Mark curiously.

By train, she replied.

Mark wondered how the old lady could get to the airport by herself when she was finding it difficult to walk or stand unsupported, let alone having to ascend and descend series of stairs and escalators through the stations to the airport. He instantly had a brain storm of how he could help her to the airport if nothing else,

Please let me know when you are ready to go, I will give you a lift to the airport, he said. She was immensely delighted,

Oh, that’s very kind, she said. She then abruptly turned around and shuffled away. Mark did not know her name or where she lived and hardly knew anything about her and there he was holding her entire house keys in his hand.

However, she seemed determined but nevertheless quite vulnerable and helpless but he was prepared to do whatever that was necessary to help her. He went back to his lounge and made phone calls to cancel some of the arrangements he had planned for that day with his friends which conflicted with his eminent journey to the airport with the old lady.

Fifty minutes had passed since she left his front door, then suddenly there was a knock at the door, he hurried to the door to find it was the same old lady, this time she returned wheeling a small suitcase,

Give me a minute, I will get the car keys, said Mark. He rushed back in, a couple of minutes later he came out with his car keys. He was tucking his shirt into his jeans and locking his front door at the same time. On their way to the airport, there was stunning silence between them, Mark was gradually becoming uncomfortable, he began to wonder who she could be visiting in Israel and for what purpose: At this point, he had made up his mind to find out, he turned to the old lady to ask her some questions only to find she had fallen asleep. The feeling was mixed for Mark, on the one hand, he was relieved of the torture of the stunning silence, on the other hand, he might not be able to satisfy his immediate curiosity by not solving the mystery of who she was visiting in Israel and perhaps for what purpose.

As he continued driving, his thought shifted, this time he was wondering if he had missed the golden moment to ask her some questions – if he had, it meant he would have to wait until her return from Israel in order to satisfy his curiosity. Considering her age, she should not be travelling alone to Israel.

The sun was drifting through clouds and suddenly it peered through the windscreen, the old lady snored for a while and opened her eyes,

Have we not reached the airport yet? she asked.

Not yet but we are making good progress, replied Mark.

She lowered the sun screen to shield herself from the direct rays of the sun and then roared with laughter, quite loudly that Mark was beginning to question her emotional and mental stability, he had his reservations but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt,

What’s the matter? he asked.

"I was dreaming about Isabella, my Jewish friend, we worked together during the war for the Russian and the British Intelligence as double agents. Isabella could speak fluent Russian in addition to four other languages. After the war, we were strolling along a river bank at around 02.00am at full moon when suddenly we noticed an aeroplane flying overhead, quite low indeed. So, we stood still wondering what could be amiss, as the plane reached the middle of the river, it hovered round in circles - about three times in quick succession, then the tail-end opened and a lot of stuff was dumped into the river,