he saw thisobserved this  and couldnt help but wondered why it was or if he considered it legitimately

a young boy  perhaps 4  waddled side-to-side as he walked  a vivid example of the proverbial two-steps forward

one-step back 

stalking forward the boy emerged past an aisle endcap into the broad aisle running before the butchers counter  

a cart emerged behind him

the boy went right

the cart followed

following the cart emerged the boys mother

their resemblance was uncanny  utterly irrefutable

she too waddled two-steps forward one-back

waddle  is very descriptive verb 

                          particularly when neither the boy nor his mother were fat

fat people waddle because they really cant risk getting out ahead of themselves

T I M B E R !!

you know theres no way in hell you can stop their fall despite really wanting to  theyd take you with them  probably snap your neck or rip your arms from their sockets 

he wasnt without empathy 

                      once he saved a newly finished woodfloor(he liked the floor more than the tenants) when a hideabed stood on end was bumped off its end  before it smashed the floor he snagged it one-armed and for his effort he snapped the bicep tendon in his left arm  he heard what he thought was a gunshot  What was that he exclaimed  What the four others asked blinking like dull birds

he wasnt without empathy

bewildered he watched the mother and childs syncopation choreography  they moved like iceskaters    push   push

push 

they went right into an aisle three up from where they appeared

he paused as they went out of sight to see if anyone else on the long meat aisle watched them

no one  apparently

apparently he was the only one interested in their unique mirrored cadence

they walked as if they stopped to smell the roses with every stride they tookwhich would be admirable if they were smelling roses not just making their way through the day

side   to   side   to   sideif you walked behind them youd have to time your passslip sideways to make it by them one at a time  he wasnt being obnoxious   they were oblivious 

to prove his assumption he beat ass up the meat aisle to the aisle they entered and he did have to time his passing of her and the cart  then her son 

there was no way he could pass both in a sudden rush 

they consumed the entire side of the aisle where their bodies swung

like mother like son

they walked as if they were at sea

hed done that too 

              sealegs were a different animal than landlegs

if you were at sea for anything more than a long day you walked the land side-to-side as if you were still on the water

it was a unique sensation

he loved it

maybe the boy and his mother were seafarers

they werent a halfhour inland from the nearest harbor

                                                    maybe

he gave them one more look

then grabbed up a cellophane bag of HOT ‘N SPICY Chicharrones and made for the cashiers

they still sway in his eyes

he hoped they were off to some distant exotic port letting the sea be their teachers 

landlocked the kid would be doomedabused by school children

kids were cruel devastating if you stood out for any reason

sleazy little bastards

  

               they rarely changed their stripe when they grow up

sometime August,  2017

The Shaggs  The Philosophy of the World  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxPsXPCR5MU