The Giving Man.

A Short Story By Stephen P Lewis

The Giving Man

Written between 5th July 2020 – 30th April 2024

Brisbane, Australia.

Reaching into the bag, Sebastian pulled out a large flat parcel which he placed into the hands of the dirty man. For a moment the man held it out in outstretched hands before bringing it back and placing it on his knees. A faint dusty print now lay visible on the side of the package.

Sebastian just smiled and said “I hope it helps you find what you are looking for.” He didn’t need to wait around. He had seen the effects of his magic many times.

The man who had been leaning up on the side of the building looked at Sebastian with a cynical eye as he walked away. He was used to disappointment and his rough life had led him here. Homeless and without a job. He turned the package over in his hands and felt the weight of the box. Sebastian was almost around the corner before his inquisitiveness led him to lift the corner and peer inside at the contents.

A sense of wonder came over the man’s body. It was a sensation that he had not felt in a long time. For what seemed like forever he had been progressively sliding further and further into desperation. As he looked down at the package the desperation seemed to lift like a fog.

He reached inside and felt the texture of what was in the box. It felt warm to the touch even though the day was cold and overcast.

He pulled the entire lid from the box, not daring to let it fall to the filth of the street beneath him. Inside was the most beautiful suit that he had ever seen. It was finely woven wool in an incredible dark colour that had just the slightest twinge of bronze in it.

With his hand he caressed the material and a warm smile spread across his face unknowingly. It had been a long time since he had smiled but for now it suited him.

As if by magic a number of possibilities began to fill his head. He had been living out on the streets for almost three months since being kicked out of his shared accommodation because he couldn’t pay the rent. As he held the lapels in his hand he could see now that if he went and had a shower and a shave he could go down and see his old friend Trent who had long ago offered him a job in his tile showroom. He had been too embarrassed to show his face in ragged clothes but now if he slipped into this suit and it fit he would have the confidence to claim the job that was long ago offered to him. He felt his clouded mind begin to clear, and he laughed at himself for not taking the offer up sooner. The suit was like a beacon of hope that made him realise that things were not as bad as he thought and that he could climb out of the hole that he had dug for himself. For too long a time he had been pushing everyone who ever cared for him away and in this moment he realised that this was not what he wanted to do anymore. And to think that he was considering going off to the Hershfield bridge this afternoon and seeing if a jump from the middle would end his misery once and for all.

He looked at the beautiful stitching around the buttonholes and felt his hope returning for the first time in a long time.

Sometimes you have to be really observant to feel the magic. It started like a trickle of a breeze around his body and if you recognised it, it would grow until it felt like an invisible hand pushing his body gently in the direction that it was meant to go.

Sebastian was out again on one of his daily missions letting his body go where it wanted to go. He was on a train heading out to the suburbs. Between his feet sat the largish sack that he carried daily. Its weight was comforting against the side of his shoes.

Sebastian was a tall man with an oval face that seemed to always give away what he was thinking. He had a couple of fine lines around his eyes that gave away his age otherwise he still retained his youthful looks.

He had been letting the rattle of the train lull him into a trance as the rails clicked by. Then he felt something starting to change in him. Slowly at first, but then building. Sebastian started to look around the compartment. He had been thinking that the train was going to take him to where he needed to go. Now he suspected that the journey itself was where he would find his next target.

There were a couple of school kids dressed in uniforms quietly playing on their phones and a businessman clearly on his way to work. Right at the end of the carriage he saw the shape of a woman hunched over a book. From this distance he could not make out much more than her shape, but she was surrounded in the familiar glow of yellow light that Sebastian had boarded the train looking for. As he lifted the sack and made his way along the carriage he could see that the light intensified.

He approached the woman slowly, not wanting to startle her. She must have sensed him coming because she looked up from her book and smiled at him. She was pretty but not beautiful. Her youth was still evident in her face.

“Excuse me for interrupting you this morning. “ Sebastian said, smiling back at her. “I have something for you.

The woman looked surprised but curious at the man before her. Sebastian reached into the bag and his hand fell around the present that was intended for this passenger. He knew instinctively that he had the right gift even though he could feel many other boxes in the bag. He brought it out slowly and handed the small brown box, no bigger than a flat shoe box, to her. Once she had it in her grip he turned and began to walk off back down the carriage.

“What is it?” the lady called after him.

“It is just something that you need.” Sebastian said, turning while still walking shakily up the centre of the train. The train slowed, and he used the moment to depart as the lady turned the package in her hands. He held on to the carriage rails as he made the final few steps to the doors of the train, half a carriage away from where he had interacted with the woman.

The train slowed down and the lady watched Sebastian leave carrying the odd sack over his shoulder like a Santa Clause. It was only then as the doors closed and the train began to pick up speed again that she opened the box.

In it was a very worn and much loved spiral notebook. It had a familiar cursive handwritten word on the front cover. “RECIPES” It said.

She turned it over in her hands, feeling the weight of this thick book. But it wasn’t until she opened it on a random page that a flood of emotions washed through her. There on the white pages, was the handwritten recipe for banana bread that her mother used to make. She recognized now that the writing that she had seen on the front cover was her own mother’s cursive script. Little hearts and bananas were drawn all over the margins of the page and although she couldn’t be certain, smells that she once associated with her mother’s kitchen wafted up from the pages.

She turned the pages, with tears welling up in her eyes. Scone recipes, lemon meringue tart and how to make the perfect pork crackling leapt off the page at her. Her mother had died when she was only fourteen. A pivotal age for a young girl trying to find her way in the world, and she always remembered the joy that her mother had had while cooking in the kitchen. Since then, she had always felt like something was lost. Some connection that she had wanted to have with her mother that always seemed so elusive.

Holding her mum’s cookbook in her fragile hands she succumbed to the desire to weep, carefully tilting her head so that her tears did not hit the pages. It had not even occurred to her to ask the stranger where he had gotten this incredible gift before he departed the train.

She gently closed the pages and held the book to her chest. And for the first time in a long time she thought she could feel the embrace of her mother’s arms.

He never knew exactly where or what he might pull from the sack. That was the magic nature of what he did. However, the process was almost always the same and if he trusted in the process he always got the result that he wanted.

Today he was in a strange city far away from home. They all seemed like a bit of a blur these days. He had thought about it a bit over the last week. It was going on two years that he had been travelling around and dispersing the contents of the sack. The process seemed to be as natural to him as breathing now. Wake up in the morning and follow the sense of intuition that leads him to a particular person and then give them something from the sack. It was always something that they needed, not always something that they wanted. These days he hardly ever stuck around to see what it was that he was giving. He did enjoy the look of joy on their faces but didn’t really like having to offer up an explanation especially since he himself didn’t really understand the magic or where it had come from.

This morning he walked down a street in a rough looking neighbourhood. He had no fear as if the power that gave him the ability to disperse these wonderful gifts would also protect him from any danger out in the world. He generally just kept his head down and people around him seemed to look right through him as he went about his business.

Today he was in some Central American country, he had forgotten which one exactly. On reflection, he liked that the bag did not discriminate about whom it used him to give its gifts too. Skin colour, nationality, old or young, male or female. Sebastian couldn’t see a pattern. The bag directed him to give to whomever deserved its gift. The youngest person he had gifted was a ten-year-old girl while the oldest had probably been a toothless lady in Jamaica who had such dark skin that it seemed to almost shine. He had given her a digital camera which had seemed like an unusual gift until he had seen the tears of joy rolling down the old lady’s dark cheeks.

From the corner of his eye he saw the faint yellow glow that he had been searching for. It seemed to be emitting from a middle-aged guy further up the dusty street. The man turned the corner and the glow disappeared with him, making Sebastian push forward now with a renewed speed. He reached the corner and looked down the old street. Lanterns hung from metal posts in a scene that reminded him of a cliché Hollywood movie. He followed the man down the street drawing closer and swapped sides as he saw that his target had done that up ahead. He quickly drew closer as there were not that many people about, and he easily passed those that were also out walking in their brightly coloured garments.

Sebastian increased his pace and watched the man ahead draw slowly closer. Like all the other times the person whom Sabastian was looking for glowed a faint yellow and as he got closer the intensity of that glow increased. It wasn’t until he had given the person he was looking for their gift that the glow would mysteriously disappear.

As with previous times he knew that he could not communicate with this person as they would speak a different language but what Sebastian needed to do was simple enough that he did not need to use words. He caught up with the man who looked much older than he probably was. He had a tired and weathered look especially in his face, and he was beginning to walk in the way that old men do, with a slight gait to each heavy step. Sebastian was not walking terribly fast, but he was easily gaining on the man in front of him and before the next corner he did reach him, tapping him gently on the shoulder before the pair could step out onto the street.

The older man turned slowly and looked Sebastian over as if trying to work out if he knew him from somewhere. When he realised that he didn’t he simply smiled and said “Si?”

Sebastian reached his hand out as if to communicate “please wait a moment and then with his left hand dug deep into the sack. He came out with two brightly wrapped boxes about the size of two shoe boxes that were held together by a bright red ribbon. They seemed heavier than they had been when they were in the sack but Sebastian did not question the magic of this. He simply extended the boxes out towards the man who took a small shuffling step forward and accepted them with both of his hands.

There was a moment of hesitation as if the man was unsure if he could unwrap the presents but again Sebastian used his body language to give him the “Go ahead.” gesture.

The man put the packages on the footpath away from the other people walking around him and squatted down to give his full attention to the two boxes before him. Sebastian took this to be his time to leave. Being thanked by a stranger in a strange language was not part of the deal. It was the role of giving the gift that he had signed on for, not the thanks at the end.

He did turn once however before he had walked too far away, curious to see what it was that he had given.

The man was still hunched over having gently and patiently removed the wrapping. It was sitting neatly folded next to his worn shoes. In the moment that he turned to look he could see that the first box contained precision woodworking tools. Their elegant box looked out of place in the dirty footpath of this part of the city. The second box had been opened as well and Sebastian could see that it contained a woodworking plane and tucked to its side some sandpaper. The guy was staring transfixed at the presents before him as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

Less than a minute later Sebastian had left the man behind and with the sack slung over his shoulder he moved on down the street again back towards the train station from where he had begun this particular journey.

The origins of the sack were almost surreal to Sebastian now. He felt like he had been travelling with the bag for about three years now but it was difficult to tell. Somehow the magic affected him as well. He could recall when he had come across the sack but not exactly when. Time seemed to be fluid these days. The only real need for it was when to catch the next bus or train. From the sack he got everything he needed. He needed only to reach in and he would have the correct ticket for the next plane and it was always in his name. If he needed food or accommodation, he needed only to reach into the bag and the correct amount of money would always appear. It would never be any more or any less.

Around three years ago he had been sitting on a bench at his local train station reading a book and waiting for his train to take him into work. It was still dark and he had to really stretch to read the book in front of him under the illumination of the station’s poor lighting. He was joined at the bench by a woman in her 40’s. She was neither attractive nor unattractive. It was strange that this was his most vivid memory of her. Over the years as he tried to recall her, she became more and more vague in his mind. Not that he did mull it over too much these days but he occasionally questioned whether or not she had been real. Ordinary was the word that sprang to mind when he tried to picture her.

It was then that he first noticed the sack. It was dark black and almost shimmered like velvet in the dim light. The woman had it resting on the ground between her legs. In the mornings on the way to work he had always felt sluggish, tired as if the world was drifting along and he was just a passenger. The moment that the woman sat next to him everything changed. The world became crisp and it felt like a purpose washed over Sebastian. His first thought was that he was having some sort of medical episode. Perhaps someone had slipped something into his coffee. Using the first fingers on his right hand he had measured his pulse but it seemed normal. He could sense that he was taking in more light and a sneaky look down at his book revealed that he no longer had issues with reading the small words on the dimly lit page. He focused on the train station around him and across the tracks in almost pure darkness he could see two small mice frolicking in the leaves.

Part of his brain knew that he shouldn’t be feeling so clear and on the edge of euphoria, but his body persuaded him to explore the feelings and to see where it led him.

“This is your journey now.” He heard the voice and connected that it was the woman next to him talking without actually looking up. Her voice was soft and calm. It perfectly suited the mood that he was currently in. He sensed movement but again perhaps selfishly dug deeper into his feelings and did not look at her. The morning had been cold and he had hunched his body over to protect his valuable body heat, but now somehow he felt immune from the chill and he sat upright, feeling the majesty of sitting straight and as one with the cold. It was as if he had a small sun burning inside his centre that irradiated out through every part of his body. It should have terrified him but instead it swept over him in calm waves.

It was almost thirty seconds before he realised that he probably should respond to the woman who had spoken to him. He was so wrapped up in this extraordinary feeling that he had neglected to speak back to her when she had talked to him. For she must have been talking to him as they were the only two waiting at the station at this ridiculous time of the morning.

He turned toward where she had been sitting and saw now that in the time it had taken for her to respond, she had disappeared. Although the gates to the station were only a few metres away Sebastion was perplexed as to how the woman had gotten up and left so fast without him noticing. He thought perhaps that it had been longer than thirty seconds but he was unsure. He tried to understand the feeling that he was having, but thinking about them and not feeling seemed to push them away at all.

Looking around the deserted platform for her, he did notice that she had left the mysterious sack that she had had resting between her legs. Feeling the need to get it back to her, Sebastian was on his feet in an instant and after taking no more than a few seconds to put his book back in his own bag and reach for the sack.

It had a comfortable weight to it that seemed to fit his new mood perfectly. He felt no need to open the drawstring and look inside. Instead he walked briskly to the station gate and glanced out at the open street before him. The woman was nowhere to be found. He looked back down the platform again and as he assumed he saw no one there except a younger guy staring blankly at a phone screen. They seemed to be the only two people left at the station.

The feeling stayed with him but now in parallel another feeling crept up on him. Curiosity.

Glancing at his watch he saw that he still had a good ten minutes before his train would arrive so he used this time to wander back to where he had been sitting and place the sack delicately on his lap. His own bag lay innocuously at his own feet.

Ever so gently he pulled apart the drawstring that held the sack closed and tried to peer into the gloom inside. Unlike the extraordinary vision that he had been experiencing in the last few minutes, now he seemed to struggle to see the few centimetres into the sack. It seemed dull as if light did not reflect into the bag. He could see that the sack contained multiple items and they seemed colourful, but the sack also somehow drained away the vibrancy of what was in it and somehow his mind couldn’t quite make the connection as to what it was seeing in there. It was almost like there was some blur that covered what he was looking into. It was a similar sensation to looking at something pixelated on TV. Like when the producers didn’t want you to see something clearly.

Trying a different plan without trying to question the weirdness of this all he reached in and his hand clamped around the first item that he grasped. Unlike the box type items that he thought that he had seen in there, his hand came out of the sack clutching a piece of paper.

Although the sun was now starting to rise, casting a little light over the station it would still have normally been difficult to read the paper in his hand. However with the enhanced vision that he now seemed to have Sebastian rolled the paper over and could easily read it in the dim light.

It was a ticket. It had been folded in half but was perfectly legible and crisp. Across the middle was his name typed in bold lettering.”Mr Sebastian Walters”. The ticket was for a 9am movie at a cinema a few suburbs away.. It was some french title that he did not recognise and as he looked at the hands of his watch he saw that it was just over 3 hours from now.

Sebastian recalled that day and the thought, or lack of it, that went into ditching work for the day and following the lead from the sack. Prior to this he had always thought of himself as calm and level headed. Not prone to do things out of character or impulsive. The line “Look before you leap” could have been tattooed across his skin, although he would never have done something as impulsive as get a tattoo.

He felt the train coming before any of his other senses heard or saw it sliding into the station. The few grey bodies that had joined him on his daily commute, slipped off their seats and entered the carriage almost zombie-like in the early morning. Sabastian, almost out of force of habit, found himself on his feet and off the cold bench but he still hesitated, a primal intuition telling him not to board the train this morning. As if shedding a skin he had a small shake and watched as the doors of the carriage closed in the frosty morning. Then as his heart beat one more time the train gave a small hiss and departed the station leaving him its only inhabitant.

Going against his instincts would normally have been very alien to Sebastian but in this case he exhibited no doubt. Just as the magical crisp feeling had washed over him he suddenly knew that he was on a different road than he had been travelling. He lifted the sack over his shoulder and felt its comfortable weight dangling on his back.

The address that he had seen was for a cinema a few suburbs away. He had never been to it but he had driven past it enough times to know of its existence. He had a few hours up his sleeve so he didn’t rush but the anticipation of what he may find there made him want to get to the cinema as soon as he could.

With time on his side Sebastian had gone home, dropped off his briefcase and taken off his shiny shoes. Feeling rather than knowing he also slipped off his tie and changed out of his business clothes to less formal attire. For some reason he didn’t think that he would be actually going to see a film but he knew that he needed to be there for some purpose. For some reason he didn’t really want to dig through the sack and see what else was in there. He felt guided as if he would get a message as to what to do next rather than have to search for answers. There was no urge to fight that made him want to investigate the sack more. It just sat on his bed in a comforting way until it was time to go to the cinema.

He took his car. Sebastian used the rail to travel to work so that he wouldn’t have to have the stress of looking for parking in the city but this time as he drove across unfamiliar suburbs from his house to his destination he felt confident that he would find a park easily, which unsurprisingly he did. The cinema was old and stood out amongst the modern buildings that grew up around it. Its greying concrete facade looked like it was from another time and another generation.

As it was still early morning Sebastian found it easy to find a place to park the car. The air still had a tinge of crispness to it although it was hardly cold anymore. Up the three concrete steps he was standing in the foyer of the cinema. The red carpets, once bright and lurid, were now faded from the thousands of patrons who had crossed this threshold over the years. Off to the right was the box office that again looked antiquated next to the myriad of brightly coloured posters that scattered the foyer and beckoning you to see the latest film.

Sebastian stared at the monitors above the box office. It seemed to be the only concession to modern times that the cinema would allow, His eyes rested on a particular film. Its name was “Grace of the Park” ; it was not something that he had ever heard of. Below in almost infinitesimally small writing it said Grace du parc. Sebastian recognised this as the french movie that was on the ticket. The man behind the counter beckoned him forward and Sebastian reached into his pocket and pulled out the ticket that he had secreted in there earlier that morning. The man from the counter, who looked far younger that should be working at such an ancient establishment, reached out and tore the end of the ticket before pointing at one of the cinema doors across the foyer.

“Cinema 3 sir” he said and lowered his eyes as if there was nothing else left to say.

Sebastian gave a polite nod to the man out of courtesy and headed back to cinema three

It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust as he entered. The screen was already alive with images of a black and white dubbed movie. It cast a glow over the couple of patrons that were already seated. He moved silently up the stairs towards the back so that he could look down on his surroundings. It felt weird but a calming weird, as if this was where he was meant to be.

The preview finished and gave way to another. This time it was in colour and seemed familiar. However Sebastian was intently focused on his audience as if he was waiting for something to happen. Some sort of sign.

As it happened he had only to wait another minute before a tall thin man walked in. He had a scarf wrapped around his neck even though the cold from this morning had long since passed. The glow from the movie made his profile look sickly. The man hesitated for a moment looking around and then shuffled himself into one of the front rows. He sat dead centre and pulled out his phone.

Sebastian noticed something else about the man. He shimmered as if he was surrounded by a yellow light. The other patrons reflected the flashing blue that bounced off the screen, but this man was bathed in the soft yellow glow that he shared with no one.

Sebastian could feel the force that had pervaded his body on the station that morning coming alive in him again. He didn’t know exactly what his purpose here was but he did know that it was something to do with this man.

Lifting the back sack that he had brought with him he sensed it was somehow heavier, but he paid no attention to it as he strode down the stairs and slid into the row that the thin man was seated in.

As he closed the gap the man looked up. Even in the dark Sebastian could see he looked annoyed. He still had his phone out on his lap but that was not giving him the eerie glow.

Careful not to take the seat directly next to him Sebastian chose to sit one seat away. Even so the other man said to him sharply as he was taking his seat. “Plenty of other seats in here buddy.” Sebastian ignored him for the moment and stuck his hand into the sack the second it was safely on the floor.

HIs right hand felt something hard and he grabbed it. It felt like a book so he was not surprised when he pulled it out and in the dim light he recognised that it was. He could even see the title printed in bold red lettering on the front cover. It read “Do the right thing” and underneath it a subtitle (A guide to ethics in the modern age.)

Without waiting for the man to offer another quip, Sebastian placed the book on the man’s lap. He must have subconsciously known that Sebastian was going to pass him something because he lifted his phone and allowed him to gently place the book on his lap close to his knees.

Then putting his phone to one side the man clutched both sides of the book and studied the cover in the movie’s light. Both men had been so absorbed in the transaction that they failed to notice that the previous had finished and the feature presentation had commenced.

“ Ho – How did you get this ?” The man finally stammered.

Sebastian didn’t know how to answer. Whatever was guiding him to this moment had now vanished. It was itf all that was necessary was to give this man the book from the sack. Feeling a little uncomfortable Sebasian started to rise from his seat.

This only seemed to open the flood gates of questions from the man.

“How do you know me? How did you get this? Did you follow me here?” The questions came out like machine gun fire.

Sebastian noticed that the man no longer glowed. Whatever magic had gotten him here had now disappeared.

He grabbed up the sack and turned to leave.

The man kept firing questions at him until l another of the cinemas patrons “shussed” him.

Thinking back over that first time now he realised how much he had learned since then, but mostly it had come down to trusting his intuition and just doing what was required of him.

Sometime later, maybe six months, maybe a year, he had done an internet search on that first book that he had given out. Although he found similar books he never came across the exact title that he saw when he handed the book over that morning. He had in the early days done this sort of thing a bit but each time he found that the actual world and the world in which he now lived never quite synced up correctly.

He did wonder how the magic worked sometimes but he also knew intuitively that if he questioned it too much it would fade and disappear.

Today he was on a train again. It was an older style like he used to catch going to work all those years ago.

He felt the familiar push within him guiding him forward. It was a feeling that was interwoven with his very being now. He could feel the train slowing down now and something in his head told him to get off at this station.

He began to look around for the yellow glow, almost as a predator does with its prey. The train ceased its motion and Sebastian stepped out. The doors squealed open. He was so intent on looking for his next person that it took him a while to realise why the station looked so familiar.

He broke out of his focus for a moment and realised that this was the station that he used to catch the train to work all those years ago. It had had a slight facelift but it was still recognisably the same station. He wondered for a moment how the pursuit of giving left him oblivious to so much these days. He was back in his home town and he hadn’t even realised it. How many times had his travels taken him back here he wondered?

The train pulled away and those that had gotten off had mostly moved down the station and out towards the gate.

Only those that were waiting to board the next train sat isolated on the remaining seats. It was a woman up at the very end of the station that emitted the familiar eerie glow.

With a practised gait Sebastian propelled himself forward It was as if the other people milling around on the station now no longer existed. Ten steps up he had passed most of them anyway walking solidly towards the woman sitting on the last row of seats by herself,

She was neither young nor old. Seated, Sebastian could see that she was neither thin nor large. You could have described her as non descript if it was not for the cloud of loneliness that seemed to engulf her presents. As always it made him curious as to what he would pull out of the sack and how it would always relate so well, like the satisfying click of jigsaw puzzle pieces fitting together.

Conscious of being a man and approaching her abruptly he decided to sit on the other end of the bench for a moment to let her feel that he was there and not a threat. Surprisingly when he did actually sit he felt how weary his body was and how tired he felt. He pushed the thoughts away from his mind momentarily and reached into the bag. As usual it was dark inside and he never knew what he was taking out until it was firmly in his hand and about to be given away.

This time the object was soft, like a piece of clothing. Sebastian felt that it was incredibly familiar as he wrapped his hand around it. He sensed that the woman was now turning her head to look at him so he quickly pulled out the item without trying to put too much thought into it.

The woman looked at him with sad eyes but then to his surprise, she smiled and it washed the sadness away briefly. Somehow this felt different and Sebastian felt lost for words as he held out the object to her.

“F..f..for you.” was all he could stammer as the lady reached out and took the item. It felt soft and light but as he couldn’t break eye contact with the lady he was still oblivious as to what he was passing her.

Embarrassed and feeling highly unusual he slipped upward off the seat and prepared to walk away. It was only then that he finally looked at the object in the woman’s hands and instantly recognised that it was an exact replica of the sack that he had been carrying and giving from for the last few years.

It made him do a double take and check his own sack which was still firmly in his right hand. The lady must have sensed his confusion and he followed her eyes as she looked from his sack to her own.

He remembered back years ago when he had received the sack. The lady had said that it was his journey now. He wanted to say something equally profound but he sensed that the moment had already passed so he just spun and walked back down the platform. The lady never said a word.

Even though a number of years had passed since he was last here, Sebastian could still remember clearly the way back to the flat that he used to rent. It was a nice morning and he didn’t feel any pull from the bag so he decided that he would walk back to his old home and check out the neighbourhood.

In a few minutes of brisk walking he started to recognise his old neighbourhood. Some things had changed. A few of the old buildings had been pulled out like rotten teeth and replaced with clean neet buildings that always seemed to dwarf what had been there before.

Finally he came to his old building. It stood only three stories high and his apartment had been the one on the second floor.

It was the pot plant on the balcony that made him want to climb the stairs and check out his apartment closer. It was the same one that he used to have when he lived there. Same pot but the plant was three times as high and considerably bushier. It looked like it was well cared for however. It was not growing wild and looked neatly trimmed.

At the top of the stairs there were three doorbells with handwritten name plates next to them. He did not recognise two of them, but the one in the middle read “Kent.” That was his surname.

The crazy adventure of the last few years had made him not question the incredible things that had been happening to him but even so this was so unexpected that he couldn’t understand how he would still have an apartment here.

Instinctively he reached into the pocket of his jeans and drew out a key in the palm of his hands. Again he didn’t even remember carrying a key around with him. Surely he would have had more than one key. But as he slid the key into the lock he felt the familiar click and the sound of the bolt being released.

He let his body almost float as he walked up the stairs and used the same key to let himself into the apartment. It didn’t even occur to him to call out in case somebody else was in there.

To his surprise there was not a mountain of unopened mail there and the apartment was clean and neat. No signs of dust. He struggled to remember back over the years to the last day he left. Surely he would have left a plate in the sink or something but everything seemed in order as if someone had just popped down to the shops a few minutes ago.

For the second time in an hour Sebastian felt the weight of his body and just how tired he really was. He drifted into the bedroom and threw the sack onto the bed. It was not heavy but as it left his hand he could feel that there was still something in it.

For the first time in all the years he was travelling he became curious as to what was in the sack. The magic worked because he did not question it. Somehow it felt like it was concluding however.

The edge of the bed felt comforting as he rested and lifted the corner of the sack. It must have still had some magic left as he still couldn’t see into the bag. Sliding his hand in he felt the corner of something hard. A book perhaps.

Feeling no guilt as it just felt right he slid his hand out with the object clenched in it. As it exited the darkness of the sack he saw that the bag now sat flat with nothing left in it. The velvet glow that always accompanied it was also gone. The sack that had always looked vibrant now looked flat and lifeless.

Letting out a sign as if he knew a part of his life was over, Sebastian looked down to see what he had in his hand.

It was the final gift. As he suspected it was a book. The cover was deeply crimson with thick gold lettering stencilled on the hardback cover.

“Everything you needed to know.” Read the cover. By Dr Klaus Von Hibbert.

Sebastian had not heard of either the book or its author but the weight of the book seemed somehow comforting to him.

He sat back on the crisp bed sheets. His head rested gently on the pillow.

He moistened his right finger and thumb and gently turned to the first page.

THE END.