42ND HEARTBEAT

XAVIER ROCKWELL

Mr. Huang entered the office tightly clutching his walking cane. There was an intense moment of silence as Principal Sanders and I awkwardly watched the old man slowly brought himself to the chair adjacent to me. The assistant would’ve helped him walk faster but he insisted that he could walk on his own. It took him almost a while and by the time he settled down, Principal Sanders cleared her to throat to reestablish the flow of conversation.

“Hi, Mr. Huang, how are you doing?” Principal Sanders greeted, her tone seemed to have drastically changed from her usual professional vibrato.

“I’m doing very well madam. T-this was the longest walk I’ve had since the last time I walked my deceased dog.” Mr. Huang spoke unhurriedly. You could clearly determine how time has aged him pretty well with the fine wrinkles in his skin and how his hair had turned from that jet black Asian hair to grey. I could also see a pair of reading glasses hanging on the pocket of his dirty white sh