The Man in the Yellow Suit – Part I

Rocky Hills, NC – Over the past six months, there has been a remarkable air of calm in Rocky Hills. It’s audible in the downtown areas, where noise pollution has sank to an unheard of 15 dB; tangible in the weather, with breezes averaging a knot; visible in the supreme lack of light pollution, which, for the first time since Rocky Mount began growing, has produced a very visible Milky Way Arm, so sought after by stargazers.

And just what seems to be the cause of all of this? Residents have differing points of view.

Arnold Olafson, a second generation Icelander-American, believes that it is simply the city returning to its roots. “As a child,” he ruminates over a glass of lemonade, “I remember being able to stretch out and relax — not a worry in the world. As the world aged with me, more hassles came about. Now, I can see that our hustle-and-bustle ways of life are, thankfully, taking five.”

Olafson is not alone in believing that it’s the rightful way, but one man would have it different.

“There’s no need for silence,” says a nameless man in a yellow suit, “where there is silence, there is stagnation; stagnation, decay; decay, death.”

When asked to respond to this view, Olafson had a marked gleam in his eye, and a new, yellow hat on. “The man’s right,” he said, and he walked back to his tractor and headed down the dirt road where he came.

Yellow seems to be the new black around these parts, to the puzzlement of fashionistas from Raleigh. “I see people all the time wearing funky s–t,” said a young fashion major from NC State, “but a man in a yellow suit has got to be the craziest damn thing I’ve heard in a while.”

While his suit may be yellow, he was sharp eyed and helped fix a flat on our news van. Perhaps the yellow suit is functional, as it is a sight for sore eyes.

– Roy McCallister, reporter for Rocky Mount Herald