Billy Knight Short Story

1373 Words6 Pages

Billy Knight had somewhat of an inconceivable magnetism and a face so piteous that he managed to bring out the humanity in every stranger that happened to saunter past his spot on Sixth Avenue. As they got closer to his dishevelled figure, boisterous conversations fluttered into silence and dove-like coos as men and women from all walks of life subconsciously reached into their pockets to drop him a coin or a prayer. “You need this more than me,” they would say. That wasn’t true, Billy was actually quite wealthy, having been an anaesthetist in his younger years, or, as he called it, “a dream inducer.” He just enjoyed sitting alone on cool cement ground and watching in his weary jacket as people passed him like factory smoke among cars and …show more content…

“Actually I’m here to talk about free will,” he said in an artificial British accent, “I believe I have made some fascinating discoveries.” The people shrugged and let him go on, most probably because they didn’t feel like they could shut down someone with such an esteemed piece of paper. “Yesterday, I went to the future, I saw it, New York. It was a lot like it is now, only more grey and more golden, I was there and- and I think this building too, it was so vaguely clear in the same way that insults and offhand remarks are. Everything was static, and that’s why I believe it cannot be changed, it’s set to happen and I think that that’s why we need to stop focusing so much on our actions and more on our feelings. I was destined to come here today, that cannot be changed. But I’m certainly not going to spend my nights worrying anymore or my days stressing, that’s also my path.” "So you don 't think there 's such a thing as free will?" A man asked. “Of course there is free will! It’s just a concept us humans invented.” … The program was cut. Apparently, the real Dr. Andrews had called in after hearing Billy speak and was outraged, he was running late because his babysitter had cancelled on him. Billy, like an unwanted dog, was sent out into the rain where raindrops pricked his skin like minute needles. He felt a convulsion of emotion as he stood in desolation, soon enough tears and rainwater combined into a cocktail down his face. That’s how, at four am he was left hurling his jacket like a cape, jumping from puddle to puddle and kicking over