‘The man’ got on the donkey!

Photo by Rina Berg on Unsplash

I had seen him come in and out of the village for three years. I remember because I was eight when he started, and now I am eleven. It was my eighth birthday, and some of the other kids were singing ‘Happy birthday’ to me when he was walking by, along with some friends. He stopped, and he began singing too. Then he asked, “Whose birthday is it?” and they pointed to me. He came towards me and lifted me onto his shoulders. “Tell me what you see from up there?” I said, “I see the crowds heading towards the city, to the Temple.”

He lifted me down, and I returned to my friends. They said farewell and walked on.

I liked the attention he gave me and how, although a man, he would play with us, kids. Each year of my birthday, I would be out on the street hoping that he would pass, and he did. Each year, he would do what he did the first year: haul me to his shoulder and ask me what I saw.

This year, when he asked what I saw, I said, “A donkey in a field.” He then said, “Watch that donkey because soon you will be surprised by what you see.”

He and his friends went on their way, and not long after, I climbed a tree to watch the donkey. It was doing what it was doing when I last looked. I returned to my friends, although every so often I would climb the tree and look to see the donkey. I did this quite a few times until I noticed that some men were taking the donkey away. I wondered whether the men were friends of ‘the man’. I kept looking, although my friends were calling me back to the street. I could see that they were leading the donkey along some streets, and then ‘the man’ appeared.

I watched as they placed their coats on the donkey, and then he sat on it. It seems a little strange, but I knew the man was playful. He then began to go into the City on the donkey. I felt an excitement in me, and with it I ran to where they were. I kept a distance as I had gone beyond where I was allowed to go.

People began reacting to the sight of ‘the man’ on the donkey. They pulled leaves from the trees and threw them on the road while they began to sing that he was their hero. I followed on, content that the world seemed happy, and so was I. I also knew ‘the man’ and was even happier that I knew the hero.

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