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Michael Bullock

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The Hat

In the garden a single lonely figure, clad in grey, emerges from among the bushes. He raises his hat, a grey topper, as though to greet’ an invisible friend. Birds in the trees provide a musical accompaniment. Inspired by the music the man’s aspect changes. He appears to be dressed for a wedding and doubtless it was his invisible bride whom he greeted by raising his hat. A shallow stream is flowing through the garden and the man crosses it, stepping carefully from stone to stone. On the other side of the stream the landscape is quite different. Open parkland stretches to the horizon and groups of people are scattered here and there, apparently engaged in picnics and similar leisure pursuits. The man walks out into the plain, growing smaller as he moves further and further away, until finally only his grey top hat is visible, now floating some fifteen feet above the ground like a kite at the end of a string. There it remains, as though waiting - perhaps for the man’s return.

 

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