man down the road

Some six weeks ago a man of about mid 40s with a small dog calls out to me as I cycle past him at a fair speed.

I am taken aback because I don't know many people in the area so assume he is after someone else. I slow down and circle back. 'Hello' I say

The man exclaims 'I knew you were a nice person, isn't it funny that I knew you would be a nice person'

as we exchange various sentences it becomes clear that he suffers with some mental health afflictions. On several occasions he requests to know where I live. Each of my responses are vague. He becomes persistent in wanting to meet me again. The intensity of the interaction raises alarm bells in my mind and I am keen to make sure that if this occurs it should be in public and well away from my home.

Before managing to extract myself from the conversation I note that his hairline has been replaced with a shadow of what looks like talc.

fox feeder

One night last month, I turned down a small road nearing home, and a woman in her 70s was stood in the road staring at me, carrier bag in hand.

'are you alright ?' I asked.

She gormlessly replies: 'Yes, I'm just feeding the fox.' and got back to her task.