Weird Encounters

Hyde Park is literally just across the street from my neighborhood.  Although the park is over 130 acres, I practically have the place memorized.  I get so comfortable here and in the area around the Centre that I have no problem going places by myself.  However I sometimes find myself unavoidably shocked when the weird happens.  

On one of my jogs through my favorite park a white-haired man in a newsie hat passed me on a rusty old bicycle.  He basically looked like a blast from the past.  People have interesting fashion sense here in London so I didn’t really think twice about it… until he whipped around and started heading straight for me.

I slowed in order to be ready to spring out of harm’s way if I needed to, but he skidded to a halt right in front of me.

“Excuse me,” he said in his naturally polite British accent.  I was still reeling from my close encounter with his skinny old bicycle tires, but I stopped and took out my headphones.  “Do you happen to know if squirrels eat horse nuts?”

I answered that I had not the slightest idea.

“Alright, thanks anyway love,” he flashed me a smile and away he went on his bike.

I started my jog again but hadn’t regained enough composure to start my iPod up when suddenly I caught sight of him wheeling past me yet another time– only this time on the opposite side of the trail, his tires a safe distance from my shins.

He waited until I made eye contact with him before he laughed and said, “Who would?”  His funny little giggle made me start to laugh until I wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep running.  He just rode off, no doubt to find someone in the populated park who could inform him whether or not squirrels preferred horse nuts.

Jogging a few days later I decided to try to find a little recess of the park that I had perhaps not noticed before.  It was dark with clouds and I began exploring a part of the park that was even darker, hidden behind a thick growth of trees.  I stopped for a minute to examine a bench with an interesting inscription on it’s back.  At that moment I realized a group of people was heading toward me. 

From my peripheral it looked to be a bunch of teenagers and I didn’t pay much attention to them.  When they strayed off the path and headed toward my secluded bench I turned a little.  What the heck were they doing?  They couldn’t go passed me unless they planned to climb the huge chain-linked fence that was behind the bench. 

Just then two of the shady figures slipped directly behind me, and the other four stayed in front of me.  They were literally close enough to touch me, and there was no one around.

My phone had already been in my hand so I lifted it and began to punch some numbers into the keypad.  This had an immediate effect– the group changed direction.  The two people that had snuck behind me returned to the group and they all gradually migrated back to the path that would take them down to the other side of the park by the Albert memorial.

The group did not consist of teenagers, in fact they looked like they could be in their mid 30’s.  The five guys all had dreadlocks of different lengths and were hardly clothed.  The girl, who was one of the people who had slipped behind me, was wearing a top hat with colorful rags tied around it.  She also wore a bright vest, bandanas tied around her arms, a scrap of a skirt, and rainbow stripped leggings with tall black punk boots. 

Basically… I was almost abducted by the circus.