A Strange Man

Steve and Linda Kane walked along the street. Steve looked up and said, “I don’t like the weather. Look how dark it is now. I think it is going to rain any minute. Let’s hurry!”

And in a few minutes it began to rain. The children had neither umbrellas nor raincoats with them.

“Oh, what are we going to do?” said Linda.

“Let’s go to the house in front of us and ask if we can go in and stay there till the rain is over,” answered Steve. The children ran to the door of a big grey house. For a long time no one answered. The children wanted to turn away, but at that minute the door opened.

A man stood in front of them and looked at them strangely.

“Yes?” he said. “What can I do for you?”

“Excuse us,” said Steve. “It is raining. May we stay in your house for some time?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” answered the man quickly. “Come in, come in.”

The children went in. The man walked into the living room, and the children went after him. The room was very large and dark, and Steve and Linda saw only the things near them.

“Come and sit down. Make yourselves at home,” said the man. The children sat down on the sofa.

“What about a cup of tea or coffee?” asked the man and again looked at them strangely.

“Oh, no, thank you,” said Steve. He looked around. “What a dark and strange room,” he thought. “Why hasn’t the man turned on the lights?”

But Linda wanted to drink very much. “May I have a glass of water?” she asked.

“Yes, of course. Excuse me for a minute,” said the man and hurried out of the room.

“Linda,” said Steve, “I don’t like this place. It’s a very strange place, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” answered Linda. “And the man is strange too. He looked at us strangely.”

“Let’s get out of here as quickly as we can,” said Steve. In a few minutes the man came back. He held a glass of water in his hand. “Here’s your drink,” he said.

Linda wanted to take the glass, but before she took it, the glass fell on the floor.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the man. “I must get a duster.” He turned and quickly left the room.

“Did you see that?” asked Linda. “What do you think of that? What’s the matter with him?”

“I don’t know, I don’t understand,” answered Steve. “But I don’t like this place, I tell you.”

“I don’t like it either,” repeated Linda.

But at that minute the man came back into the room. “Here you are,” he said and held out another glass of water. Linda drank the water and thanked the man. Then he held out a duster to her and said, “Dry the floor, please.”

The children looked at each other. Linda took the duster and dried up the water on the floor. When the man went back to the kitchen, Linda said to Steve, “Let’s get out of here.”

They stood up and began to go to the door. But at that minute they heard something strange behind the door. They stopped and listened. The door began to open slowly. The children stood still and looked at the door. The door opened and a big dog came into the room.

“Oh, now we can’t get out of here,” said Linda, ready to cry. The big dog came up to the children. But just then the man came back.

“Meet my dog,” he said. “Come here, King.” He took the dog by the collar and brought it to the children. “Sit down, King,” he said to the dog, and the dog sat down on the floor.

“My name is Peter Green,” said the man and sat down in the armchair. “And what are your names?”

“I’m Steve Kane, and this is my sister Linda. We live not far from here.”

“And how old are you?” asked Mr. Green.

“I am twelve,” said Steve.

“And I am ten,” said Linda.

“And what do you like to do after your lessons?” asked Mr. Green.

“I like sports,” said Steve.

“And what games do you play?” Mr. Green wanted to know.

“I play football and volleyball. We play football during the breaks at school and after lessons too,” said Steve.

“And I like to read and take music lessons,” said Linda.

“I like to read too,” said Mr. Green. “Do you want to see my books?”

“Thank you, Mr. Green, but it is late and we must hurry home,” answered Steve.

“Oh, you can’t go home,” said the man, “it is still raining.”

The children did not like it. They did not like the dark room and the big dog of the man, who looked at them strangely.

“Look at my books now,” said the man and went straight to a large bookcase in the corner of the room. He took out a thick book, came back to the children and sat down on the sofa near them.

“This is one I like very much,” he said and opened the book. He put his hand on the first page.

But what a strange thing! The children did not see anything on the page. No words, no sentences, nothing at all!

“But there are no words there!” said Steve.

“Oh, I am sorry,” answered Mr. Green. “You do not know. I cannot see, I’m blind. And this book is for people who are blind.”

The children looked at each other. Blind! They remembered the glass on the floor, the dark room and many other things. Now they understood everything.

Mr. Green touched the dog’s head. “King is the kind of dog that looks after blind people. He is a great help to me. I love him very much and I think he loves me too.”

Now the children began to like Mr. Green and his dog more and more. Mr. Green asked them about their school subjects. “When at school I liked literature better than any other subject. I listened to all the interesting stories with my mouth open and got only good marks in literature. But I must say that I didn’t like arithmetic and made a lot of mistakes in my sums,” said Mr. Green.

The children and Mr. Green laughed. The children liked the conversation with Mr. Green so much that they did not think about the weather. But when Steve looked out of the window he said, “Oh, the rain has stopped! We must hurry, we are late already.”

Mr. Green stood up and showed the children to the door.

“Pleased to have met you,” he said. “Remember me to your parents, they know me well. And come again to my place.”

Steve and Linda thanked Mr. Green, said goodbye to him and King and ran home. When they came to the corner of the street they turned and looked back at the house.

“Steve,” said Linda, “let’s come to Mr. Green’s place again some day. He is a very nice man and he likes to talk to us. And we can help him a little.”