The old man walked slowly, feeling the full weight of his 84 years of life. The park was almost deserted in the late fall afternoon, and the old man made his way to the bench where he'd been meeting his friend Fred, for almost a year now. In his hand was a plastic shopping bag, and his other hand a rustic knobby walking stick. Reaching the bench, he sat down and rested after the walk from the car. He took out a sealed bag of peanuts, and tried to open it, but the smooth plastic was too strong for his 84 year old hands, so he took out his pocket knife and neatly slit open the top of the bag of nuts. The razor sharp old carbon steel blade glided through the plastic like it wasn't even there.
"What kind of knife ya got there, pops?" a voice asked, startling him.
The old man looked up and saw three young teenage boys looking at him. The one closest to him had spoke. Close cropped hair with a green dyed streak down the middle and a black t-shirt with a white skull on it made the old man a little leary.
"I said what kind of knife ya got there, pops?"the teen asked again.
The old man opened his hand and looked at the old knife laying there. The wood handles were polished smooth as glass from uncounted handling over a period of time that measured in decades. The blade was almost half the width of what it had been when it was issued to him that day very long ago. But it was razor sharp, and still ready to do what was needed.
"That, young man is a TL-29. Also called an electricians knife. I was a commo man in Korea, and this was part of my issue. "
The kid sneered a little at the old knife.
"Man, that relic is as old as you are, huh? I guess they don't make 'em like that anymore, if we're lucky."
His two companions laughed at the joke, and the old man started to get a little annoyed at the intrusion of the rude young men. Soon his friend may show, and he didn't want Fred to be scared off by the unfamiliar people.
Suddenly the young man yanked his hand out of his pocket, and with a flick and flurrish of his hand a knife's blade clicked into place.
"Now if you wanted a real knife, you want to get something like this, old man. You can open it a lot faster than that old thing you've got there, and it's a real hard use knife. Stand up to a lot more stuff than that one of yours." the cocky youth told him.
The old man thought back to the cold winter in Korea, and how they had to cut the bandages from the dead to put on the living, who needed them more. He thought about the long retreat from what they later called the Frozen Chosin, and how the knife had done many things under extreme conditions. He thought about how later on the farm, he'd had to amputate the arm of a worker who had got his arm caught in the blades of a combine, and to save the man's life, he'd had to cut off the arm at the elbow because everything below was ground and cut to pieces. He thought about the many decades of use the knife had given him on fishing trips, hunting trips, and working in the warehouse until his retirement.
"Hard use, sonny? I don't know what that is. All I know is this knife has done everything I've asked of it for over 50 years now. Some of that was under conditions that may have had you changing diapers. So if you're done shooting your mouth off like a cannon, go on and get out of here. I see my friend Fred over there, and he's a little shy of strangers. And I don't really care for your company either."
The teen punk wavered for a moment, mad at being dismissed so out of hand by an old man, but his friends urged him to go.
"Come on man, the old guys crazy, don't you see that. Come on, leave the old nutcase alone, he's seeing things. There ain't nobody over there!"
They all looked where the old man was looking, and the park was empty. Only a few birds and squirrels moved. With a few insults, the youths moved off, and the old man reached into the bag of peanuts and took one out. A gray squirrel jumped up on the bench, used to the old man by months of being fed. He had a distinctive white blaze on top of his head.
"Hello, Fred. Have a nut, buddy." The old man said as he reached out with a nut in his fingers. The half tame squirrel reached out with his front paws and took the nut and started knawing the shell away to get at the nut inside. The old man watched the squirrel and saw how easy the big front teeth went through the nutshell.
"Looks like you got some hard use teeth there, Fred. I wonder where that kid could get some hard use brains?"
It is not recorded what Fred had to say.
*Inspired by Walt Kowalski.
"What kind of knife ya got there, pops?" a voice asked, startling him.
The old man looked up and saw three young teenage boys looking at him. The one closest to him had spoke. Close cropped hair with a green dyed streak down the middle and a black t-shirt with a white skull on it made the old man a little leary.
"I said what kind of knife ya got there, pops?"the teen asked again.
The old man opened his hand and looked at the old knife laying there. The wood handles were polished smooth as glass from uncounted handling over a period of time that measured in decades. The blade was almost half the width of what it had been when it was issued to him that day very long ago. But it was razor sharp, and still ready to do what was needed.
"That, young man is a TL-29. Also called an electricians knife. I was a commo man in Korea, and this was part of my issue. "
The kid sneered a little at the old knife.
"Man, that relic is as old as you are, huh? I guess they don't make 'em like that anymore, if we're lucky."
His two companions laughed at the joke, and the old man started to get a little annoyed at the intrusion of the rude young men. Soon his friend may show, and he didn't want Fred to be scared off by the unfamiliar people.
Suddenly the young man yanked his hand out of his pocket, and with a flick and flurrish of his hand a knife's blade clicked into place.
"Now if you wanted a real knife, you want to get something like this, old man. You can open it a lot faster than that old thing you've got there, and it's a real hard use knife. Stand up to a lot more stuff than that one of yours." the cocky youth told him.
The old man thought back to the cold winter in Korea, and how they had to cut the bandages from the dead to put on the living, who needed them more. He thought about the long retreat from what they later called the Frozen Chosin, and how the knife had done many things under extreme conditions. He thought about how later on the farm, he'd had to amputate the arm of a worker who had got his arm caught in the blades of a combine, and to save the man's life, he'd had to cut off the arm at the elbow because everything below was ground and cut to pieces. He thought about the many decades of use the knife had given him on fishing trips, hunting trips, and working in the warehouse until his retirement.
"Hard use, sonny? I don't know what that is. All I know is this knife has done everything I've asked of it for over 50 years now. Some of that was under conditions that may have had you changing diapers. So if you're done shooting your mouth off like a cannon, go on and get out of here. I see my friend Fred over there, and he's a little shy of strangers. And I don't really care for your company either."
The teen punk wavered for a moment, mad at being dismissed so out of hand by an old man, but his friends urged him to go.
"Come on man, the old guys crazy, don't you see that. Come on, leave the old nutcase alone, he's seeing things. There ain't nobody over there!"
They all looked where the old man was looking, and the park was empty. Only a few birds and squirrels moved. With a few insults, the youths moved off, and the old man reached into the bag of peanuts and took one out. A gray squirrel jumped up on the bench, used to the old man by months of being fed. He had a distinctive white blaze on top of his head.
"Hello, Fred. Have a nut, buddy." The old man said as he reached out with a nut in his fingers. The half tame squirrel reached out with his front paws and took the nut and started knawing the shell away to get at the nut inside. The old man watched the squirrel and saw how easy the big front teeth went through the nutshell.
"Looks like you got some hard use teeth there, Fred. I wonder where that kid could get some hard use brains?"
It is not recorded what Fred had to say.
*Inspired by Walt Kowalski.
Very good tale, Carl.
