portnockie

i had a little encounter with a small group of small children who were swinging on the barrier at the side of the road when i cycled past.
it was a little encounter, but the more i think of it, the more i think of it as a big encounter.

first of all a small girl shouted after me asking if i was the duck man.
i swung my bicycle round and said i didn't know who the duck man was.
she then asked me who was i then.   i hesitated a little before saying that i was a human.
they all hesitated, considering this, before replying that they were also human.

it felt good to establish that point of connection before continuing the conversation.

they thought that the duck man - who was actually a bit of a mystery to all of us - might have worn a hat similar to mine.  they wanted to see inside my hat and verify if there were eggs there or not.   i cupped my hat close to my ear and made a little quack which obviously came from my lips and not from the hat, but which pleased them enormously nonetheless.


a girl urged me to give her a duck (the reputed activity of the duck man) and when i asked her why she wanted a duck, she replied "because ducks are cool" and when i asked why ducks were cool, she hesitated and then replied "because ducks have feathers".
i then thought of the question "why is it cool that ducks have feathers?" but decided not to press the issue.

they wanted to know what i did and if i worked and when i told that i did not work but that i liked to cycle my bike, a girl said "di ye nae want a girlfriend?"
i said that i liked to travel by myself, and doubted myself as i said it.
then the girl, who can't have been above five years old, said with a mischevious air "di ye nae want to kiss someone?" and averted her eyes while still looking at me, mischeavously, and i thought: "how young does one perceive the life activities worth pursuing".

they wanted to know what i had in my bag and where i had recently been on my bike and when i showed them a sketchy painting of the bowfiddle rock one boy whose name i learned was george asked if i would draw him.  he sat stiffly against the barrier looking at me with the air of doing something very important.  i observed myself not being able to prevent myself from breaking into big smiles, and when i looked at george and around at the others, they began breaking into big smiles too.

i thought:  at this young age they are so receptive, they want to learn so much, they must drench any listener with questions in order to learn about the world.  they are also like mirrors that imitate the behaviour of those round about them.