The Lonely Observer;  An Unexpected Encounter (Part 2)

Sometimes, Ebuka found himself staring blankly at the setting sun, smiling at his pictured perfect life he knew would never be. To do this often, he excused himself from home every Sunday evening, the only day he was free to have his own time.

He often prayed for good sunny weather on Sundays so that he could sneak into a corner near the church porch where he could have a perfect view of the setting sun.

His parents thought he was always in haste to meet up with the evening Benediction. Little did they know that he only looked forward to seeing a beautiful sunset.

It was on one such occasion that Father Mike happened to pass by. For a moment, he tried to understand why a young man would be staring eerily at the setting sun instead of joining the noisy teens of his age, talking as much as they could before Benediction.

He decided to walk past without being noticed. This happened for two more weeks before Father Mike decided to approach the young boy, at least to know why he kept that strange routine.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, breaking the silence that surrounded the corner.

Startled, Ebuka looked for a way to run.

"Don't run, you did nothing wrong. What is your name?"

"Ebuka," he responded with a strain of fear in his voice.

Ebuka was scared and angry at the same time. Scared because he feared that the young priest might tell him to join others below, and angry because his one exclusive spot had been discovered.

Father Mike sat beside him silently for a while before asking, "Why do you come here often? Why haven't I seen you with any of the children's groups in the church? Why aren't you with the others?"