Unseen Burdens

Alone he sits. Sad his heart is. He yearn for simplicity and receives everything but. Surrounded he is yet still he sits. People pass by and only spare a single glance. He dared not reach out. He dared not try to grasp for help. These weights were given to him to bare, and they need not be shared. He tries to rise, to push forward and continue on but he falls to his knees.

His eyes scan the crowd and all he see’s is people moving with ease. They are graceful in the way they walk, unlike his tortured and lumbering steps. If only the weights on his shoulders were lighter, he could cover a block in a single day, maybe even a mile. A mile would be a glorious thing to cover in a single day. He sinks further down, his bones and muscles being crushed under the weight. Anger beings to boil in his chest. He can feel the flaming tendrils lick at his body and soul.

He allows the vile emotion fuel him as he pushes himself back up. His legs shake and his muscles tighten but at last he is standing. The ground terribly far away. A dangerous distance if he was to collapse. He attempts to focus on something else, something besides his pain, his sadness, his jealously, his inadequacy. There is nothing else. He takes a step. Something else, anything else.

His knee buckles from under him sending his aching body to the ground. He throws his right hand out to brace himself but it does a poor job. The gravel and rocks shreds the skin of his hand causing blood to seep out from around the rocks buried deep into his palm and forearm. The right side of his face turns to fire as gravel burrows it way into his skin, leaving trails of flowing red rivers. He tries to open his eyes, one is filled with a red haze and burns, but the other is still usable for now.

Sandal clad feet, brown leather dress shoes, tan work boots, and many more pass within inches of where he lay. He watches, thinking about something else, anything else. He closed his eyes and could feel sleep on the outskirts of his mind. He had taken two steps today. Today was a good day.