The Daily Dott - Malky And The Broccoli Tree

He noticed me before I noticed him. They always do. Those...is he drunk? Here we go!

He was sitting under my favourite tree, one that I affectionately call the Broccoli tree, because it looks like a huge stalk of broccoli jutting out from the ground. He called me over, before I had the chance to pretend I never saw him and the next thing I knew, I was sitting beside 'Malky,' listening to tales from what I could only describe as not his finest hour.

For the reason he was sitting under the Broccoli Tree was that his girlfriend had kicked him out the night before and he spent the night under the stars with a comforting bottle of white lighting which he kindly offered me a 'swatch' off.

I'd rather be struck by lighting.

Malky's problems seemed to run deep, like the scars on his wrists from attempted suicide. His Father passed away many years ago, an event he admitted to never recovering from.

Throughout our conversation, I noticed he would pause to reflect on superstitious notions, such as how many magpies there was in the park ( he was genuinely pleased to see two) and before I went away he even picked up a penny and gave it to me – believing it would give me luck for the rest of the day.

Walking away from the tree where he sat, I began to think about the significance of his comments regarding superstition.

See, he didn't just acknowledge them in a passive way, instead he seemed to really believe that these exterior elements could bring him happiness.

As opposed to finding his own inner joy, he was hoping the sight of two birds would do it for him, instead of having a good day and enjoying himself he believed that finding a penny guaranteed him happiness, albeit, for 24 hours.

Much in the same way we all put a quid on to 'win the lottery' because we firmly believe that it will change our lives, but would it really, really change you that much?

The man had, of course, been through more shite than Tim Robbins in the Shawshank Redemption, but the difference is, Tim didn't enjoy swimming through the shit. It kinda seemed to me that Malky enjoyed revelling in his suicidal attempts, harsh as that may seem.

There isn't really a 'silver lining' to this story as such, and if there was, best believe those magpies would have nabbed it anyway, but, in short, it's time to create our own happiness.