“Before” by Mack W. Mani

I was an old man.

He said it casually,

pushing a toy truck

across the carpet,

just a few weeks after

his fourth birthday.

We grinned at

his new game

and asked when

this had happened.

Before.

We played along for a while,

but as he began to supply

more and more detailed answers,

we started to listen.

He spoke very fondly of his wife,

who worked with him for many years

at a factory in Malaysia;

she liked music and to read

and they would pick berries

together in the summertime.

This from a boy who yesterday

was afraid of cooties.

He said that he would never

forget the look on her face

on her 90th birthday,

as she opened his gift to her,

a new pair of shoes,

something she had never had.

He seemed almost bored,

like we were distracting him somehow,

like we should already know

the answers to our questions.

We decided, if he brought it up again,

that we would make an appointment,

I mean, how does a child come

up with something like that?

But weeks later,

when we asked him

about his previous life

he just looked at us blankly,

whatever it was,

having faded from him,

like a dream upon waking.

Mack W. Mani is an American poet, playwright, and author. His work has appeared in various literary magazines including Neon, NewMyths, and The Pedestal Magazine. He currently lives in Portland, OR.

Published in Kaleidotrope, Autumn 2016 | www.kaleidotrope.net