just a blitz[meg, Blitz]

He loved the faces.

He loved examining each one carefully, inventing their stories. The old women with a frown now permanently etched on her face? Perhaps she was a butcher who was secretly a vegetarian after years of slaughter. The fat man who always had a jam-jar of ale in his hand? Maybe his daughter had been killed in an accident that he had caused, and he drank to take away the pain. Of course he'd never share these thoughts with anyone he knew. They would think him completely crazy, and he'd never hear the end of it. No one would believe that crazy, macabre thoughts like these would make their way around Abe's head.

The girl ahead of him, the one who looked so panicked to be in a crowd like the one that hustled and bustled in the center of the city? Maybe she had lost her father in a crowd not too unlike this one, and she had never seen him again. His mind wondered to the face of the already wise-looking baby (Was he a reincarnation of the ancient town apothecary, who had passed on recently?) and the toddler who was in a huff (Maybe she had cried all night because her brother had 'borrowed' her only teddy, and ripped it's head off.) He didn't notice the scared little girl until he had bumped into her, knocking her to the ground. And even then he didn't really pay attention to her until he almost stood on her.

"Oh, err, crap," he said, before putting his foot down, this time safely away from her body.

He bent down, and offered her a hand to use to yank herself up with.

"Um, sorry."

She hadn't talked. That probably wasn't good, right? Not talking was generally a sign of madness, and madness could be caused by a knock to the head, which could be caused by a fall to the ground, which, thanks to Abe, she had just suffered. And although he tried to pretend that he didn't care about people he didn't know and people who were a bit odd, both which were catagories that this girl fell into, really, he'd never forgive himself for hurting someone.

It didn't take too much effort to haul the girl to her feet, which, seeing as Abe was really quite weedy, meant that she couldn't weigh much.

"You right, love? Didn't kill you there, did I?" He said, trying to laugh off the fear in his stomach. That's what he always did- when ever he was insecure about anything at all, he joked about it, tried to play it cool.

The girl was quite clearly a nutter. The realization came to him when she started giggling something about sore throats. He didn’t think that it had anything to do with her fall, and suddenly his caring nature snapped back to where it came from.

“You can buy water from a shop,” he said, slow words intended for a person he clearly thought was slow herself. He gestured with wild inaccuracy over his shoulder. The sooner this strange encounter was over, the better. This was really weird.

“I have to go. Maybe you should see a doctor. And a psychiatrist. See you later.”

When he finished, he picked up a much quicker pace than he had held before and headed towards the bakery, where he had originally intended to go. Maybe a couple of nibbles of cheesy bread would rid his memory of this weird little meeting, one of life’s quirks.