THE TURQUOISE PEN

Thoughts at Lunch

Noël R. King

Today at lunch I saw Anne Frank walking by the side of the road. Although quite pale and thin, she seemed to be enjoying the sunshine.

She was talking to a little boy walking next to her, so I did not worry too much about her. If she had been by herself, I would have felt bad for her and wondered if she felt alone, particularly as she is some 70 or so years past the time period she would seem to be most comfortable occupying. On the other hand, perhaps she is grateful to be as far removed from that era as possible.

As I passed and recognized who she was, I longed to ask her about her life and how it had all turned out, but I quickly decided that she likely harbored little desire to sift once more through the tragic life that all the world has read about, that she would prefer instead to spend her time resting and recuperating in the twenty-first century while her psyche knits itself back together.

I am not sure why I saw her in this place and time (2011), but I have observed that the world’s dimensions are shifting, and perhaps history is remaking itself with the intent of resolving itself differently this time around. I hope so, anyway.

A scary thought, though. If Anne Frank is out there walking around, what about Adolf Hitler? Might I come home for lunch tomorrow and see him jogging past my mailbox, his infamous mustache damp with sweat as he enjoys his daily constitutional? Will my surly neighbor see him, grab a gun and shoot him, thinking this the perfect time and place to right the world?

Most people at my job do not go home for lunch, and now I am seeing why. It is far more peaceful and unsettling to sit down for a bologna sandwich in front of one’s computer than it is to come face to face with the breakdown of history out here in the real world.

When I get back to work this afternoon, I will go online to see how history’s changed from what they taught me as a child. Is JFK still dead since Dallas? Or will I see him eating malt balls at the movies when I go to watch the re-release of old Ben-Hur? Will MLK Jr. appear as well to drive his namesake highways, watch his famous speeches on youtube, and stay home from work on MLK Jr. Day? Will I see him drinking coffee at the Barnes & Noble Starbucks?

If old history is being made anew, from what new past might I myself appear, and who will gasp to see me walking past them in the grocery store tonight? Will Oprah Winfrey hear of me and call—quick, quick—to book me even if history has to remake the timing of her show’s finale?

Byebye, bosses! You may or may not see me anymore. It depends on Who I Am when I awaken in the a.m.

—As circumstances warrant, through her Turquoise Pen column Nöël R. King, Charlottesville, Virginia, reports on strange and wonderful or worrisome things, including history remaking itself.