George & Sadie

George was walking on The High Line. The path was crowded. Spring had arrived in New York City, and it seemed as though everyone was taking a collective break from their routines to soak in the sun.

Sadie was sitting on a bench cross-legged in a secondhand dress and an orange cardigan. Her shoes sat next to her, while her unpainted toes enjoyed some sun. She was reading a horror novel. A funny thing to do on such a bright and optimistic day, but she couldn’t help it, she was drawn to the thrill of murder and mayhem.

George spotted Sadie right away, her eyes squinted in the sun as she focused on her book. 10th avenue was over her shoulder, and the sounds of traffic and blaring horns didn’t seem to affect her. George wondered if she forgot the Sunglasses that were sitting on top her head, or maybe the point was to keep her cropped black hair out of her eyes. Nonetheless, George knew right away, that this was the person he was looking for.

Sadie looked up from her book, she had a feeling that she was being watched. Most people in the city avoided eye contact altogether, but there he was, sitting on the bench across from hers, this long lanky musician type, unkempt brown hair and a little bit of stubble growing on his chin. He was smiling at her, a bright authentic kind of smile. Something you don’t often see in these parts.

“Hi" George said, and waved once they made eye contact. He thought he saw her sigh, and…yup…she’s rolling her eyes.

“Hey” Sadie replied, shifting her legs out from underneath her, careful so as to not expose herself. Her mom told her to sit like a lady, but it never stuck. She was going to leave. She didn’t talk to strangers. Actually, she didn’t talk to anyone except her mom and her best friend.

George, realizing he was about to lose his chance to do the thing he came here to do, stood up quickly and walked over to her before she could make her escape.

“Sorry for bothering you, I was hoping I could talk to you, just for a few minutes?”

Sadie was suddenly uncomfortable. She felt a tightness in her chest, that squeezy anxiety she gets anytime she is forced to be social.

“Oh” she picked up her book and stood.” Sorry, I have to get back to work.”

“Ok, no worries. Listen, it was great to meet you…sorry I don’t know your name?”

She hesitates, then exhales “Sadie”

“Sadie? What a great name, I love that name.”

She had to admit that his energy was a bit contagious. He was kind of like Mr. Goddamn Sunshine himself.

“My name is George…Harrison.”

Sadie stops, stunned at this bit of information. “Your name is George Harrison? As in The Beatles and All Things Must Pass, and the guy with the guitar that gently weeps?”

George laughs and bounces around, he’s a bit embarrassing. “YES....Exactly, my parents are huge Beatle fans…obviously, so they took advantage of their last name being Harrison. Most people our age don’t really know much about the Beatles, but you know your stuff.”

“Well, George had the best solo career after The Beatles broke up as far as I am concerned. He was never given enough credit for his genius.”

They pause and smile at each other.

“I have like ten minutes” Sadie says as she looks at her watch. She doesn’t have to be anywhere in actuality, but he didn’t have to know that. All this smiling and happy energy could be hiding a Ted Bundy in Mr. Rogers clothing. Better safe than dead.

“So …George, what did you want to talk about?”

George starts to pace, and Sadie can’t help but think that maybe he’s high.

He takes a deep breath,” This is going to sound crazy, but I just got here today from Canada, and I have something for you.”

He hands her a large envelope.

Sadie takes the envelope suspiciously, looking at George the whole time, waiting to see a glimmer of ill intent.

“What is this?” she says and examines the envelope. It is made of kraft paper, and is really thick, the only thing written on it is, For The One.

“OK.Before you open it, I want to explain what is going on. I travelled here from Manitoba because I needed to see New York City and I read about this place called Smalls in Greenwich Village, where I can jam with real jazz musicians.”

Yup, Sadie thought, a musician.

“I also write poetry” He takes a little black notebook out of the back pocket of his jeans. “This here is my soul” he holds the book to his chest and dramatically inhales. Sadie thinks if the jazz thing doesn’t work out, he’s a sure contender for Shakespeare in the Park. “I have so many thoughts, you know. And I just feel everything in a big way, and I need to let it out, so it doesn’t haunt me. Do you ever feel that way? Like something inside of you needs to be expressed or else you will lose your shit?” Sadie nods, she’s a bit speechless, people are watching them as they pass by, his enthusiasm is Oscar worthy. “Well, there was this poetry contest, and the first-place prize was $20000.00. My sister told me about it, and she wanted me to submit one of my poems, but I was like no way, this shit is special, it is my soul, and my soul is not for sale.”

Sadie leans in, she’s captivated as though she were a child hearing that Alice went down the rabbit hole for the first time.

“So, my sister, she goes behind my back and she submits one of my poems, and” He pauses for a dramatic effect, “it wins!”

“Holy shit” Sadie is stunned.

“So, I called the people who run the contest, and I am like, hey I did not enter this contest willingly, my sister entered pretending to be me”

“Wait. Why would you do that?” Sadie asked

“Because, like I said, my soul is not for sale. It felt good to win, it really did, but it wasn’t authentic to who I am.”

Sadie rolls her eyes again, “So your art is above money?”

“yes, it is”

“Ok so did they disqualify you?”

“No, they said that there is nothing in the rules that says a person cannot submit a poem on my behalf. So, I was screwed”

“Ok, so I am confused, what does this have to do with me? I have no idea who you are or why you gave me this envelope, and to be honest I have no idea where Manitoba is, and whether or not you’re going to kill me right now.”

“It’s a province in Canada”

“What is?”

“Manitoba”

“Oh”

“I live in a town called Churchill, its actually kind of famous for being the polar bear capital of the world”

“What?” Sadie’s eyes pop. “You live with polar bears?”

“Yup” George grins proudly, strangers are always so impressed by this fact, but Sadie doesn’t look impressed, she looks appalled.

“I am terrified of bears.” Her voice has gone up in pitch, a squeak perhaps. “If I had to choose the worst way to die, it would be a bear attak, Seriously, I won’t go camping, I won’t go to a cottage in the woods, I won’t get anywhere where I could possibly be ripped apart by a bear”

George is searching, but he has no words.

“Did you know that a bear will stand up, and they are like huge, and knock you over with their big Freddy Krueger paws, and start eating your stomach while you’re still alive?”

George is pretty sure she is about to have an anxiety attack.

“Why don’t you take a deep breath” George suggests, and he sits next to her and pats her back, “There there” he says, and he starts to laugh. He looks away trying to hold it back, but he can’t, he loses it and Sadie, unable to contain herself, begins to laugh with George. Sadie takes a tissue out of her backpack and wipes the tears from her face.

“Sorry about that, I am just really freaking scared of bears”

“Yes, I can see that, and I will never EVER bring it up again.” He pauses and stares at her, he hadn’t noticed her eyes, they were the colour of honey. She looks at his mouth, his half smile is flirtatious and endearing.

George breaks the spell, “Now we are out of time I guess” He looks at his phone “You are late for work.”

Sadie shakes her head, “No, that was a wee bit of a lie, I just didn’t want to talk to you”

“Well, I appreciate your honesty”

“But I want to talk to you now, I can’t go the rest of my life without knowing what is in the envelope”

“Right. Yes, Ok, its fifteen thousand dollars.”

Sadie stares at the envelope and back at George. “What?”

“It’s the prize money. I spent some of it to come here, you know, knock it off my bucket list as they say, but the rest, is for you”

“I’m sorry” Sadie stands up and backs away “I am so confused right now, and this feels really freaking weird. No one just gives a stranger thousands of dollars for no reason. Do you think I’ll have sex with you if you give me a bunch of cash?”

She tears open the envelope and looks inside

“This looks like Monopoly money”

George contains a laugh; she is clearly freaked out and he realizes that this probably looks really bad now that he thinks about it.

“First, it isn’t Monopoly money, its Canadian money, and our money is colourful. Secondly, I am not a pervert, I am just a guy, who won some money he didn’t want in the first place and decided that he would come to this magnificent city, take a walk, and give the money to the first person he sees, who touches his soul.”

Sadie shakes her head and gathers her belongings. She hands the envelope back to George, but he won’t take it.

“Listen, George, Your sweet and adorable and fun to talk to, but I don’t take candy from strangers…there are plenty of homeless people in the city who could use this money… do I look needy or pathetic somehow?”

“No not at all...I don’t know how to explain it other than to say that I’ve been walking all day around this city, looking for someone to give this envelope to, and I felt your energy before I saw you. It was like goose bumps; you know what I mean? I felt inspired by your energy, and when I saw you it clicked, like a seat belt, It felt safe, and it felt right.”

Sadie is speechless. She doesn’t have words; she begins to cry.

George reaches out, and wipes a tear away from her cheek, then takes her hand and kisses it. “It was lovely to meet you Sadie,” and he begins to walk away.

“Wait!” Sadie shouts. He stops and looks back.

“Sexy Sadie” he shouts back.

“What?” she yells, and it turns into a hiccup. She wishes he would stay

”The song…Sexy Sadie, you have a Beatle connection too. I am right about you; you are the one”

She looks down at the envelope and thinks, the one what?

Sadie knew three things for sure at that moment. First, she was going to buy a shit load of horror novels, Second, she was going to give the rest of the money to a shelter or a food bank, and third, she could probably learn to like polar bears a whole lot.