{"id":981,"date":"2026-07-15T14:44:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T12:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/?p=981"},"modified":"2026-07-15T14:44:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T12:44:34","slug":"mister-nobody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/2026\/07\/15\/mister-nobody\/","title":{"rendered":"Mister Nobody"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
\n

– It\u2019s the end of the line, sir.<\/p>\n


The bus driver felt embarrassed. He didn\u2019t like when a homeless person fell asleep on his bus, because waking them up and getting them out of the bus was often a source of conflict, especially late at night. Often the homeless person would try to negotiate the right to sleep on the bus. But this time, the old man didn\u2019t cause any trouble, and he even apologized for missing the stop where he had intended to get off\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\"\"\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The homeless man had never been to the end of this particular bus line. He was discovering a suburb filled with nice houses, and the cars parked on the street showed that this was a wealthy neighbourhood. Since it was quite late, almost all the houses were dark, with their shutters closed. The man thought it would be difficult to find a place to sleep in this area; he was so accustomed to the little corner where he had made himself comfortable in the dead-end downtown where he often slept; but it was too late to get back there. As he was walking along those grand houses, a car stopped in front of the gate, and a man in a business suit got out of the car to open it. He looked at the homeless man for a second, appearing surprised and annoyed to discover this poor fellow wandering in a place where he didn\u2019t belong. As the man was opening the gate, a little voice came from the back of the car:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Who is that man, daddy?
The father didn\u2019t bother to answer, getting back into his seat. But the glass of the rear window rolled down, and the face of a little boy appeared:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Who are you, sir?
– I\u2019m nobody.
The boy cried out enthusiastically:
– Daddy! It\u2019s Mister Nobody!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the homeless man was sitting in the kitchen with the little boy, while the house maid was fixing a late snack, it didn\u2019t take long to understand that this boy was getting absolutely anything he wanted from his father. He was the king of the house. The father, who had reluctantly accepted the request of his son to let the homeless man in, excused himself, holding his smartphone. The little boy explained with pride:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Daddy says the stock market never sleeps!
– I know. And you don\u2019t always win, the old man answered.
Something painful flickered across the homeless man’s face \u2014 an old memory, resurfacing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While eating his sandwiches, the little boy kept asking questions. The homeless man understood that Mister Nobody was a story the little boy fancied a lot, and meeting the hero in person was of course a reason for being so curious, even though the old homeless man didn\u2019t really look like the character of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– It\u2019s because you got older, isn\u2019t it? The little boy asked.
He was mostly answering his own questions.
– Is it nice to live nowhere? My mum lives there too. Do you know her?
The little boy showed the portrait of a thirty-year old woman in a frame, with a sad smile.
– Maybe she\u2019ll come back someday. Just like you.
What a stupid idea<\/em>, the homeless man thought for himself. Making this little boy believe that his mother wasn\u2019t dead, but just gone nowhere\u2026<\/em> Was it also because his son was an orphan that the father allowed him everything?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning, the homeless man felt so well and rested. It had been a very long time since he had slept in a real bed, and had the chance to use a proper bathroom. It was so unusual for him to caress a shaved chin. As he showed up in the kitchen, he discovered the little boy having his breakfast, in front of his father, already reading a financial newspaper.
The little boy jumped from his seat:
– You know what? I dreamt we were flying to a remote planet and we were discovering a lot of people calling themselves the nobodies!
– Hurry up, William, or you\u2019ll be late for school, the house maid said.
– Can he come with me? the little boy asked.
– Of course not, the father objected. Mister Nobody is too old to school!
– Indeed! the homeless man explained. I went to school when I was a little boy like you.
– So you went to nowhere school?
– Of course.
He didn\u2019t want to destroy the boy\u2019s dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the boy was about to, finally, leave for school, accompanied by the house maid, it didn\u2019t take him a long negotiation to obtain that the homeless man would be authorized to come back at night, and sleep there again. But once the boy was out, the father insisted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– One more night, that\u2019s all.
– May I ask a you question? The old man said.
– I\u2019m late, the father answered, going out holding his financial bible, leaving a few bank notes on the table. That\u2019s for you lunch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The homeless man wandered the upscale suburb all day, lingering before immaculate gardens and silent houses. Since the father had given him this money in the morning, he didn\u2019t even have to beg for anything. He didn\u2019t even hold against the staff of the posh bakery he went to, reluctantly serving this old man dressed in rags. The homeless man spent a good part of the afternoon enjoying the quiet of a park. Quietness which ended when kids came out of school and invaded the park with their games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The little boy appeared, accompanied by the house maid. He ran directly to the homeless man:
– You know what? They didn\u2019t believe me when I said you had slept at my home!
Before the man could answer, the boy ran towards a group of children, and started arguing with the group, pointing the finger in his direction. From their reaction, you could tell the other children didn\u2019t agree that this old man in rags could be the real Mister Nobody.
– It\u2019s so sad, the house maid sighed, as she was sitting on the bench next to homeless man. William is obsessed with that.
– You mean, the death of his mum?
– Don\u2019t ever tell him she\u2019s dead!
– I understood, the old man replied. But why make him believe she\u2019s gone somewhere\u2026
– Somewhere would be better than nowhere, the house maid observed.
– Maybe things will sort themselves out when he grows up?
– It\u2019s never good to lie to a child, believe me.
The boy was back:
– They are so stupid. They just don\u2019t get it. They are not my friends anymore. But you know what? Someday, we\u2019ll go to nowhere together. And then, they\u2019ll be obliged to believe us. Is it far?
– Not very far, the old man replied. But the difficult thing is to find it. It\u2019s not shown on maps, you know.
– Of course, the little boy exclaimed. Since it\u2019s nowhere!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At night, during the dinner, the little boy didn\u2019t stop asking questions about all the \u201cnos\u201d, who no-one really was compared to nobody, what the price of nothing could be, if never would happen someday, and so on. The father was listening distantly, looking from time to time on his smartphone:
– You\u2019re annoying our guest with all your questions.
Later at night, once the boy had been taken to sleep by the house maid, the homeless man dared to ask the father:
– Why keep lying to him? Why not gently lead him to understand that she\u2019s dead?
The father stared at the old man as if he had stabbed him. He didn\u2019t answer immediately.
– You don\u2019t know who she\u2026.
He couldn\u2019t finish his sentence, his eyes filled with tears. But he instantly got control of himself, and walked outside of the room. As he reached the door, he added nervously:
– Tomorrow morning, you shall leave. And please don\u2019t ever come back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning, after breakfast, as William was about to leave for school, he asked:
– Shall we meet at the park, like yesterday?
– I\u2019m afraid not, the homeless man answered. I have to go.
– Are you going back to nowhere? I want to go with you!
– It\u2019s not possible, William, the father objected. Mister Nobody has to go.
The boy burst into tears, and went into such a rage that the maid had to wrap her arms around him. And even though it broke his heart, the homeless man felt it was time to leave:
– Don\u2019t be sad, William. Nowhere is not a very nice place, you know\u2026
– But\u2026 What about Mummy?
The boy looked so shocked he almost couldn\u2019t breathe.
– Out! Out! the father ordered.
As he was closing the door, the homeless man heard the sigh of the house maid:
– It\u2019s so\u2026
The slam of the door covered the end of the sentence. The homeless man walked to the bus stop, hopped on the one which was leaving, and sat in front with a little girl and her mother.
– Mummy? The little girl asked. Why is the man crying?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At night, when the father came back from his office, he found the house maid crying in the kitchen, holding a letter, sobbing, repeating:
– Goodness\u2026 Goodness\u2026
The father took the envelope. Inside was a page with a few words, written with the typical hesitating handwriting of a child. It read:
\u201cI\u2019m going nowhere\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

– It\u2019s the end of the line, sir. The bus driver felt embarrassed. He didn\u2019t like when a homeless person fell asleep on his bus, because waking them up and getting them out of the bus was often a source of conflict, especially late at night. Often the homeless person would try to negotiate the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":983,"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/981\/revisions\/983"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acmstudio.net\/gmwp\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}