He was sad. I noticed.

I went up to him. “Hey, Mr Eid Card, how are you?”

He looked at me, with a glow in his eyes. “You know me?”

“Of course I do!” I replied. “Everybody knows you.”

The sad grim on his face started to fade away. “Except I wonder if anybody knows-ties you.”

My out-of-place humour made him mad.

His worn-out attire made me feel a bit sad. “Nah, I shouldn’t have made that joke,” I muttered to myself.

He looked like the rotten AI fast food we’ve been seeing on Facebook these days. Mr Eid Card was a big deal back when I was a kid.

I wonder if kids these days even know him. Many call him Mr EC these days. They say it sounds cool. Mr EC knows it isn’t that much.

They resemble him with the Election Commission. As useless as he is these days.

As I was thinking all these things in my head, my eyes went out to look for Mr EC, and I noticed him observing a couple a little way off. It took me a good few seconds to comprehend the conversation.

They were breaking up. The girlfriend was saying something to the tone of, “Why did you have to do that to me? You used me and now you are throwing me away.”

Hearing this, I instinctively shouted, “Just like they did to Mr EC.”

Lol! Sorry. I did it again. Even the couple laughed a bit. They left soon after. I wonder if it was because of me overhearing their conversation, or if my joke humoured them enough that they patched up.

This was it for Mr EC. He was done with me. He didn’t say anything. He kept walking away. Nah. Mr EC was very dear to all of us once.

He was there for everybody. For those who could afford him for 5 Tk only to those with big money as well. He was the reason for our smiles. He was there everywhere. He meant something.

I remember back when we were kids, we used to measure our love for each other by who got whom the better Mr EC.

These days, Mr EC is only found in Mobile Financial Services like bKash and Nagad during Eid. Though no one cares much about him, they do care about the cash that comes attached with him. 

Just remembered how my crush cares about my notes, and not the man that comes with them. Never mind.

Now, he is walking away. He doesn’t look back. I am looking at him. As he fades away into the shadows, I see the people around. No one budges. They scroll on their phones, argue over meaningless trends.

They don’t care about him anymore. I do. I know what he was. I know what he is. I know he will come back.

He has to.

He will come back, slipping through the shadows. Just like DC comes back with each of its movies every year.

Psyche! Got you.