Anonymity

Whenever John returned planet-side, he always took a few days break away from the island to "re-set" himself, sometimes accompanied by a brother, sometimes alone, but always to a busy city. His brothers never quite understood his choice of holiday destination; they too enjoyed a city break now and then, but John had always been the most introverted of the five, happy to spend months alone in space.

What John enjoyed was the anonymity he felt in a busy city. He would weave through crowds, never touching, never stopping, watching the people around him. He would spend hours in a museum or gallery, just another tourist.

He was the least recognisable of his brothers. Whilst Gordon and Alan enjoyed a certain degree of celebrity due to their brief sporting careers, Virgil had a small following for his art and music, and even Scott was recognised for being Jeff Tracy's oldest son, few people knew more of John Tracy than that he was an astronaut who wrote books. He was rarely seen at Tracy Enterprises events (being up in Five), and had never provided a photograph for his publisher to use in the jackets of his books.

John almost always returned home for Christmas, leaving Five in an automated state for a week or two. He would shop online, and his gifts for everyone would be there ready to be wrapped when he got back. Even so, he would still fly to whichever European city took his fancy- alone- and immerse himself in the Christmas markets. He liked to handpick something small for everyone, to go with whatever he'd ordered.

The streets and stalls were brightly lit, music blaring, people laughing and talking and yelling, the smell of sausage and ginger and sugar and chestnuts and chocolate and garlic and doughnuts mingling and making John's mouth water. He clutched his purchases as he wandered, long legs moving him quickly as he walked down the street, winding his way through the busy market. Occasionally he would stop and examine an interesting stall, sometimes shaking off his disguise of anonymity just long enough to point, exchange money for goods, and smile in thanks, before disappearing back into the crowd, just another shopper.

Eventually he tired of the crowds, the slowness of the people around him beginning to frustrate him. He ducked into a side street, out of the throng. A few steps and a corner later, the noise of the market became muffled, the light less bright, as he left the people behind.

This wasn't the shortest way back to his hotel, but it would be quicker than fighting his way through all the people. He needed the silence, the solitude, just for a bit before he got back to the hotel and called home.

He wasn't entirely alone, there were one or two people, but that was fine. A woman laden with heavy shopping, a couple of men who-

John frowned. The men were definitely following that woman, closing in on her, and as she reached the mouth of an alley, they caught up and pushed her in, her cry quickly cut off. John ran.

The woman's bags were strewn across the ground, she herself pushed up against the wall, as the men began to undo her coat. Dropping his own bags, John charged forward, catching them by surprise.

The fight didn't last very long. John had training, whereas these men relied on their size. One was overpowered, the other ran away, and John called the police whilst sitting on his captive.

Having given his statement, John helped the woman pick up her bags, even offered to carry them for her and order her a taxi. She shook her head with a shaky smile.

"I just live around the corner, but thank you."

"I can carry them that far, at least."

She nodded, and led him to her flat. John handed her her bags and began to walk away.

"Wait! I didn't get your name when you spoke to the police."

"It's John."

"John…?"

John smiled. "It's not important."

"Thank you, John." She reached into her bag and pulled out a little glass star, miraculously intact after the attack. After a slight hesitation John took it, nodding in thanks.

He melted back into the anonymity of the street.

This wasn't on my original list of titles. Where I currently live, there's a massive Christmas market that takes up the entire main shopping street and the square nearby. It's always incredibly busy, particularly on the weekend and especially now there's only a couple of weeks left before Christmas. I have to walk through it every day to get to and from work.

My flatmate hates going down the street when it's heaving with people, but I actually enjoy wandering around through busy crowds (as long as I'm not really aiming to buy anything in particular; I'm a woman on a mission when it comes to gift-shopping =P). It's hard to explain why something so chaotic could be so calming, but it kinda is, at least for a little while. Then, like John, I get tired of all the people and go find a quiet route home. That's where this idea came from, just the other day. I almost uploaded it immediately, but I may have got a little too deep with my comments here if I had =P The story was written immediately upon getting back to my flat, and has only been altered slightly before posting.

This is the last of the snippets under "A". Unless any more bite me in the next few days, I'll start posting the ones beginning with "B" in a little while :)