It was several weeks before Justme was to make another appearance. I was driving home across the ridge of the Downs straight into the most glorious of sunsets. The pinks and mauves of the sky cast a shifting purple shadowy light across the hills and hedges and filled the air with a type of magic no living soul could fail to notice. No living soul that is…except me!
”Isn’t it beautiful” piped a small voice from the passenger seat that I could not fail to recognise.
“Isn’t what beautiful?” I asked scornfully.
“Isn’t IT beautiful,” he replied with emphasis.
“IT can mean anything and everything.” I was being deliberately obtuse.
“It IS anything and everything,” he replied.
I gave the scene a cursory look.
“It is pretty,” I conceded turning my eyes back to the tarmac strip, glad that the road twisted left at this point and I was no longer forced to look into the sunset.
“Do you always look only with your eyes?” he asked.
“How else am I supposed to look?”
I turned my eyes towards him. There he was – angelic face, golden curls, red sweatshirt, blue dungarees – all safely tucked up behind the seat belt. Despite myself I smiled to see him tucked up there as though he belonged.
His blue eyes danced with mischief as he said, “Your eyes give you the pictures but your inside does the seeing.”
“Sometimes,” I said concentrating on the road again. “Sometimes your inside is so full that it is unable to do the seeing.”
He was quiet for a while as we trundled on.
“Is your inside full of other things today?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Are they more beautiful than IT?”
Pause for thought. There was a short answer to this.
“No.”
“Do you like the other things better than the sunset?”
Was there no end to his questioning? Once more he was beginning to irritate. I took a deep breath.
“No. I don’t like them better than the sunset. In fact I don’t like them at all. It is because they bother me that they have grown to fill up so much of my inside.”
“A bit like grey clouds,” he said thoughtfully. “They grow so big they cover the sun.”
“Yes. Like grey clouds.” I agreed.
We slowed to take a sharp bend and then began the long slow crawl up the next steep incline. Around us the magic continued to flitter, casting shadows here, highlights there.
“How long have you had the cloud?” He was off again.
“Since this morning.”
There was another long silence and I began to feel uncomfortable.
“This morning I hurt someone who I like very much. They were in real need of a helping hand. I could have bent the rules just a little to help. I refused.”
The silence remained.
“When you really believe in a principle you have to stand by that principle whatever happens. Rules are rules. There can be no exceptions.”
Justme sat thoughtfully. He is going to say something in a minute, I thought. I waited expectantly. Sure enough. It wasn’t long in coming.
“You have just crossed a double white line,” he said.
“Didn’t you see that baby rabbit at the side of the road?” I asked. “If I hadn’t pulled across the lines I could well have hit it and possibly killed it. I was quite safe as there is nobody about and there was nothing coming the other way.”
I see..,” he grinned. “Rules are rules…provided that no one is looking and you have a good reason for breaking them.”
I laughed. He sure had got me cornered this time.
“O.K. Point taken,” I said. “Rules are sometimes made to be broken. Now are you going to tell me that I could not see that either.”
He laughed out loud filling the car with a sound like the tinkling of a stream.
“The sunset is beautiful,” he beamed.
“The sunset is the most beautiful ever,” I agreed. “It is painting the clouds, tickling the tree tops and turning my day into a warm rosy cosiness. When I get home I will ring my friend and make my peace.”
I changed gear and pulled up at the junction leading to the main road.
“You know, Justme, I may just be able to save the glory of this evening. Rules may be rules but all the circumstances must be taken into account before they can be rigidly enforced.”
I turned to see if my conclusions met with Justme’s approval. The passenger seat was empty. My little friend had gone
