B2

The man was alone. He had been standing there in the middle of the square, amidst a buzzing crowd that had paid no attention to his presence whatsoever, and his eyes were now distorted with despair and anxiety. I thought he was well on his way to burst the throbbing vein on his forehead, until this very thought seemed to occur to him too. He straightened his moustache, refolded the newspaper, tucked it in his inner pocket and precariously cleaned his nose. His eyes met mine, and he nodded.

"Gather around, dear people, for I can fill your minds with wonder!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. His audience was soon complete; they eagerly awaited the continuation of his act. 200 pairs of curious eyes and ears hungrily followed his every move. He opened his mouth wide; the crowd fell silent, so did the apparent prophet. He turned around to face me His face swollen and nervous, his mouth scouting his inner being for the appropriate words, his fingers twitching around.

He lost his balance and made a few dubious sidesteps. To my greatest horror, his lack of feeling for the art of equilibrium had driven him onto a busy road. One particular vehicle was about to eliminate him and made a quick evasive manoeuvre. Unfortunately enough this caused the car to plough straight through the mass of people that had been packed together at the edge of the square, pulverizing most people in the process. A few lost souls managed to escape and went to buy themselves a popsicle at the nearest local ice cream vendor to celebrate their break from the dragging haul of life.

I was not to be seduced by sugar that day, so i joined the man from earlier at his side. He was well-tempered and hummed me a tune. "I like to think I really made a lasting impression on some of them," he snickered.