The Other Side Of The Story

The fly landed on the branch of a tree in a homeless encampment on the downside of the road where the hit-and-run accident had occurred. This i what the fly saw:

A TV crew had set up their equipment and under bright lights were interviewing several of the homeless folks that had emerged from their tents.

An elderly woman with grey hair stood proud answering the reporters question.

“Oh Charley was such a good man. He would go out of his way to help us where he could. He never seemed to stop. So much energy”.

At that point the woman stooped to pick up a small crying child who after a few moments settled in the elderly woman’s comfort as if she were the child’s mother. The woman continued,,,

“We are one big family and Bessie here just lost her father in the hit-and-run accident this morning. Charley was helping a fellow across the street who had tumbled down the embankment. He was bleeding some and had a broken leg Charlie said. He was running across the road back and forth to find stuff to help his friend.”

The fly saw a tear slip down the elderly woman’s face as she held herself strong hiding the inner turmoil that must be roiling inside. Suddenly she turned away from the camera and walked away to her tent.

Next thing a man appeared in front of the camera and began talking. The reporter indicated to the cameraman to keep it rolling.

“… the police brutality has in dealing with us tells us that the city doesn’t care about us homeless folk. So we move to another park or space and carry on. What must we do ehh?”

Just as he reporter thought “Well go find a job you” a crowd began to gather around the microphone becoming loud and aggressive chanting …”We have rights…Down with the police…Here we are in a rich neighbourhood with nothing…” On it went. A siren could be heard approaching, fast.

The TV crew hastily gathered up their equipment leaving a thick cable lying across the grass. Chasos broke loose with people leaving, cops coming and the homeless folk bracing for another stormy day.

Out of the corner of it’s eye the fly saw a cop trip over the cable which caused his gun to go off when he hit the ground. The bullet hit the tree where the fly had settled. A lizard stalking the fly fell to the ground \ and the fly promptly left the scene.

Later that day Mrs T once again had her head in her cellphone scrolling through the news, facebook and community gossip.

“Mr T. get ya bleeding bones here now. I’ve got to show you this.”

What Mr T. saw was the full recording of the TV coverage of the interview. He fell off the chair.

The last thing he saw before he passed out was a fly on the wall.

#farce #homeless #satire