The elderly man.

"Ooph!"

I looked down to find I had ran into the elderly man who got served before me. He stood about a head shorter than me, with long grey hair and a scruffy beard. I watched in slow motion, as his tub of popcorn fell to the floor. It landed upside down and all but a few kernels of popcorn went all over the floor.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry!" I cried. "Are you alright?"

He looked up at me with piercing grey eyes and gave me a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." He said. I let out a small sigh of relief. "My popcorn on the other hand." He looked down at the popcorn covered floor. I grimaced.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention. Let me clean it up." I placed my hot dog and water on the counter and bent down to start scooping popcorn back into the tub.

With a grunt, he started to bend down to help me. I looked at him. "I got it, don't worry. I can clean it up." He ignored me and crouched down next to me and started to scoop up popcorn.

"I'm really sorry about this." I said.

"It's alright, son. Accidents happen."

"Do you want something else? I'll pay for it." I offered. "Do you want my hot dog?"

The man chuckled. "No, its alright son."

"Are you sure? That was the last of the popcorn and..." He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Just the fact that you apologized and are cleaning it up is enough."

"Are you sure?" I asked again.

Suddenly, his hand went tight on my shoulder. "I am sure, do not worry."

I looked up at him apologetically and my eyes caught his and for a second, I saw the universe. Stars and planets went whizzing by with flashes of lightning nearly blinding me. Then, thousands of lives flew by in a moment, children turned into adults, families grew and died, generations past. Then it was over as suddenly as it had started. His eyes went back to grey and I wondered if I was crazy.

He laughed. "No, you aren't crazy."

My jaw dropped. Before I could say anything, he spoke again. "Life has not been easy to you, has it John Doe."

"I never told you..."

"And you don't need to. You are pure of heart and yet you long for things that cannot be."

"I..." I looked around to see if anyone else was hearing this but no one was around. The employee, the people in line for tickets or snacks, everyone was gone. It was just me and this man.

He smiled. "It's alright son, I am not here to hurt you, I am instead here to help you."

"Help me? Help me with what? Who are you?"

With a grunt, he stood up. "Who I am is not important. I have been watching you. You have helped others, you see the best in people and you do everything you can for your friends but have fallen so many times trying to help yourself. You long for change, you long to be a better version of yourself , you long for someone to see you as you, you long for love. You have tried and tried to change and yet nothing seems to work. That is why I am here. To curb your curiosity, to help you find your confidence, to help you find yourself.

"I..."

He held out his hand. "No words are necessary. Grab my hand."

Tentatively, I reached out and grabbed his hand. He pulled me up to my feet with a surprising amount of strength and before I could do anything, he slammed his hand into my chest. An explosion of light emanated from my chest and for a moment I was blind. Suddenly, I felt nothing, not the clothes on my body, not the small breeze from the air conditioning, not the grease on my hands from the popcorn. Nothing.

Then everything came back and someone ran into me. The elderly man was gone, instead the girl from the parking lot stumbled back.

She caught herself from falling. "Oh god I'm so sorry." She said apologetically.

Confused, I looked down. In my hands were my hot dog and drink and the floor below was clean. I look up and piercing grey eyes looked at me apologetically.

"No...no worries" I said, confused. I looked around everyone was back. The employee at the counter, the people walking to the theaters. The elderly man was no where to be seen.

"Here." Said the girl. She reached out with a napkin and rubbed a spot of ketchup off my shirt. "Hopefully the stain wont be too bad." She said.

What the fuck just happened.

She finished dabbing up the spot, and tossed the napkin perfectly into the trash can. I just stared at her in bewilderment. Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Are you sure you are alright?" She asked.

I slowly nodded. "Yeah.. Yeah I'm fine."

"Ok, great!" she said happily. Then, in a quieter voice, added."If you want anything, just wish for it."

"What?"

"Enjoy your movie!" She said. She turned and walked away. Her hips swayed sensationally. She glanced back at me and winked at me with grey eyes. Then she was gone. Dissipated into thin air.

I looked around, bewildered.

"Hey, John!" Someone called out.