Light Hidden by Darkness is
about a man named Mr. Bud who wakes up and finds himself in a strange
land with no recollection of his whereabouts or his past. He is completely lost and
confused. What Mr. Bud could use is some help, but so far, no one in this strange city has
been able to give him the answers that he needs. Unable to find help,
Mr. Bud decides to escape the city and starts out by walking...and walking...and walking some more. In the following
passage from Light Hidden by Darkness, Mr. Bud walks for what seems to be an eternity without seeing another living soul. Finally, he meets a
person on the street who could possibly help him. The initial encounter follows;
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| Books by John Bradford Branney [click link] |
After walking further, Mr. Bud was worried that he was lost. He was alone on the street and the emptiness in the city frightened him. He was contemplating turning around and heading back to his building when he saw a lone man standing on the sidewalk in front of him. As Mr. Bud cautiously approached the stranger, he studied the man’s mocha-colored face. The stranger smiled and Mr. Bud stopped just a few feet away from him.
“Hello,
friend,” the stranger greeted Mr. Bud. “Are you taking a little stroll?”
“Yes,
I am,” Mr. Bud replied, “but, I might be lost.”
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| Trilby hat. |
“Aren’t
we all, sir?”
“Pardon?”
“Perhaps,
I can help you, sir,” the stranger offered.
“Perhaps,”
Mr. Bud replied. “I am not sure where I am heading.”
“That
is not unusual,” the stranger declared. “Many of us are not sure where we are
heading.”
“Are
you lost as well?”
“No,
but I have been lost many times,” the stranger recalled, “I somehow always find
the right path.”
Mr.
Bud looked at the tall stranger. If Mr. Bud was any closer, he would have had
to crane his neck backwards just to look the stranger in the eyes. The stranger
appeared as thin as wallpaper, but it was hard to tell because of the raincoat
the stranger wore. He also had a funny little hat on his head. Mr. Bud had seen
this style of hat somewhere before, but he could not remember where. The hat
was brown-colored wool with small yellow squares in the fabric, giving it a
tweed look. It had a yellow hatband for accent and
the stranger wore the hat with the brim turned down over his ears.
The
stranger noticed Mr. Bud staring at his hat and asked, “It is a nice one, isn’t
it?”
“Pardon
me?” Mr. Bud replied.
“My
hat,” the stranger said, “I saw you admiring it.”
“Yeah, I have seen one
like it somewhere before.”
“It
is called a trilby.”
“What
is?”
“My
hat,” the stranger replied and then asked, “So, where are you heading, sir?”
Mr.
Bud thought about the answer to the stranger’s question. Mr. Bud did not have a
direct answer for the stranger
since he did not know where he was and he did not remember where he was from.
“Anywhere,”
Mr. Bud replied after a long pause, “away from this goofy city.”
The relationship between Mr. Bud and this 'stranger in the funny little hat' continues to evolve throughout the book. However, no reader could ever guess in an eternity how their relationship ends up. Let me just say that the relationship between Mr. Bud and the 'stranger in the funny little hat' is quite unique.
|
| Books by John Bradford Branney (click link) |
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