Passed Upon the Stair

The following was inspired by David Bowie's song, "The Man Who Sold the World."

I walked along the sidewalk, remembering the flowers that once grew there. Children played where they'd been, unaware of what it had been like. Friends passed me by along the pavement path. New flowers had sprung.
A child asked me which way robins fly for the winter. This brought a laugh as I answered, "South."
Entering the building I walked down a hall decorated with pictures that had all been changed. I liked the new ones better.
Out the back door and up some stairs around the side, I looked at the sun. It was as warm as the old one had been. A man on his way down bumped my shoulder, and after seeing me he said, "Well hello. It's been a long time."
"I'm sorry," I replied, "Do I know you?"
"You don't remember an old friend?" He spread his arms wide in a friendly gesture, more friendly than the sun but still less friendly than his smile.
It was then that I recognized him. "It's you?" I asked in amazement.
"It is."
"You're still around?"
"Well, I've traveled a good deal, but I'm back again."
"No, I mean, I didn't know you were still alive."
He laughed. "Of course I am."
"Are you really you?"
"I really am, my friend. I really am."
"If you really are who I think," I said, "Then I've never met you."
"Sure you have."
"Not in person."
"You have now."
"I suppose I have." I lingered there for a moment, staring into his eyes that shouldn't have been there. "I should be going."
"I'll see you later then." He left up the stairs, and without thinking, I left going back down.
At the bottom I stopped and turned back to him. "Why did you do it?"
He stopped at the top, before going around the corner. "Do what?"
I gestured to the garden, and the world beyond. "You know."
"Why'd I betray the world you mean?"
"Yes."
"I didn't."
"But you did. You handed it over to them."
"I did, but the world's no worse off."
I looked around. "The world we knew is gone."
"The world my grandfather knew was already gone. Things change. They aren't bad, they're just different."
"Why'd you do it?" I asked again.
"Seemed profitable."
"Was it?"
"They let me travel the universe in a silver goblet."
"A silver goblet?"
"Yes." he answered with no further explanation.
I walked back up the stairs, halfway. He stayed where he was. "What's it like on other planets."
"Different" he answered. "Like it is here. Like it is for you compared to the next guy."
"Is it good?"
He laughed. "I'd guess people would say it's bad, because people don't seem to like things that aren't how they think they should be."
"The children enjoy the new sun..." I admitted, "Except the kid that dwells on tales of old."
"Things shouldn't all be how they should be." He smiled. "Sometimes they can be different." Then he turned and walked around the corner, leaving me on the stairs to never see him again.