The Man Who Asked About School

Sorting his dead mother's sewing box, a man of forty-three finds a photograph of himself at six, hand in hand with a tall stranger at Turin station.

School

The first strange thing was the photograph.

I found it inside my mother’s old sewing box, beneath loose buttons, bent needles, and three wooden spools of black thread. The picture showed Turin’s Porta Nuova station on a wet winter afternoon. People hurried beneath umbrellas. A tram waited beyond the entrance. Near the edge of the frame stood a tall man in a dark coat.

He was holding a child’s hand.

The child was me.

I was forty-three when I found the photograph, though I looked no older than six in it. My hair had been cut badly around my ears. I wore the red wool coat my mother had made from one of her own.

I remembered that coat.

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Quick answers about The Man Who Asked About School

What is The Man Who Asked About School about?

Sorting his dead mother's sewing box, a man of forty-three finds a photograph of himself at six, hand in hand with a tall stranger at Turin station.

Is The Man Who Asked About School free to read?

Yes. Every story on RapidTale is free to read in the browser, with no sign-up and nothing to install.

How long does it take to read?

This story runs 1 chapter — most readers finish in one sitting, and you can stop and return to any chapter using the contents list.

Who wrote it?

Nimra Khan — original fiction published on RapidTale.