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Lynn Childress's avatar

You have reminded me of a similar person (though younger when I met him). I suspected he was homeless, yet he wore a single golf glove and an antique watch with multiple faces that did not have the correct time. Like a toddler, I was drawn to him, and like an American, I sat down on the bench and struck up a conversation with him. When I asked him his name, he replied Jonathan Swift. What parents would name their child after a famous writer, or was he winding me up? "What do you do?" He said with a straight face, "I keep asteroids from hitting the Earth." Oxford is full of brilliant eccentrics, maybe it was a secret research project. After a pause, I replied, "You seem to be doing a good job." After that, I would always flash a big smile when I passed his bench or stop to exchange a few words. He introduced me to things like pinhole glasses and fractals. On the day I returned from Glastonbury, my shoes were completely ruined by mud. When I stopped to greet Jonathan, he insisted on buying me a new pair of trainers and a package of Flying Fox socks. Every encounter with him turned out in an unexpected way, sometimes he forgot who I was and thought he had not met me. I could never anticipate what he would say. One day he invited me to tea at his house. He was not homeless after all...he lived alone in a large Victorian house in Headington and had a garden filled with exotic plants. He was quite awkward though and I ended up making the tea. He said that no one had ever been to tea with him. On the day that I was leaving Oxford, he kissed me good-bye. He tried to write his address but could not. Later, at home in Summertown, I stood in the kitchen, bracing myself against the counter and crying harder than I ever had in my life because I realized that it would be impossible to have a romantic relationship with him. He most likely would always be alone in his beautiful and singular world.

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Vita's avatar

I can imagine how the hypothetical conversation would go:

"So, how did you end up here?"

"Oh, I wrote newsletters about modern culture. Actually, I have a Discord server that you might be interested in..."

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