Niel Allen 3

"So, I see that you are a great thinker, much like myself," said Mr Allen, catching me off-guard. "I suppose you could say that, yes." My thoughts slipped back to my first impression of Mr Allen: old, decrepit, and grumpy. I do recall him likening me to my mom which angered me. Now he was likening me to himself...that act would have offended me, but now I take it as a compliment. Indeed, Mr Allen is a fine gentleman of a fellow..or at least more so than I thought at first. "I don't think I'm so much a great thinker as I am an observer. After all, this is a new place for me. There's much to look at and see." "....and you are much an arguer. I tried to give you a compliment and you refute it as a non-truth. I have to admit, your mother was never this stubborn. Well, maybe in her youth....but i didn't know her then. When she came to me, she was quite refined." I was flabbergasted! Mr Allen does talk. This was as much as he had said all day. Not to mention he seems like a feisty fellow, too. Little by little, I began to see why mother enjoyed her time here so much. Although his place was less than ideal--much less--when he spoke, all of that vanished away. When he spoke, especially when mentioning my mother, he had a certain light or gleam in his eyes and a lilt in his voice. Mr Allen possessed a charm; a charm that probably helped him score such a fine lady. "Admiring my pictures, are you?" Mr Allen asked. "Why, yes. And who is that lovely lady with you in all of them?" "That is my wife, Ginny...I'll admit, she is pretty cute. Much cuter than all the other hippie chicks in that day...when I met her, that is." Taking a quick glance at the other pictures in the room, I noticed that all of them were old, almost antique-like. This greatly puzzled me; and it showed on my face. "What are you wondering, child?" "Oh, I was just wondering why there aren't any new pictures of you and your wife." Mr Allen opened his mouth as if to say something, looking me straight in the eye. After a few seconds, the twinkle in his eyes rapidly fading, he looked away and closed his mouth. I fear that I have upset the old gentleman once again. I seriously wondered as to why my question upset him so. He seemed to love her alot; he was genuinely happy with her, even just talking about her made his eyes twinkle. So why would a question like that upset him? I mean, after all, he did say she 'is' my wife; why wouldn't there be any new pictures if they are indeed still married? And why would he need my mom(and now me) to come to stay with him if he were married? I was very puzzled. I started to speculate as to why he was upset and why he needed us to stay with him. Maybe his wife Ginny left him and he could never get over her. Maybe they were never legally divorced. Maybe she resides in a nursing home. Or perhaps, worst case scenario, she passed away. The latter two seemed to be more plausible. But, if she, in fact, were now living in a nursing home, why wouldn't there be any new pictures? Maybe Mr Allen keeps them in a different room. I would hate to think and suspect that she died. For now, I will go with the nursing home story. While I was musing about Mr Allen's life story, he never said a word. He stared blankly into "Neverland." The thought of Neverland always reminds me of Peter Pan; which I always seem to associate with being young forever(perhaps I am getting two fairy tales confused). As I studied Mr Allen's face, I could not help but notice some outstanding boyish features, even in his old age. His eyes still help a boyish charm and perhaps friskiness; playfulness, if you will. Mr Allen noticed my staring at him, and turned his head to look at me. "I'm sorry, child. I get lost in my thoughts sometimes..well, alot of the time actually. My deep thoughts and memories just take me away to Neverland. Haha" Mr Allen chuckled.