Motionless
Story:
There it is lying in the dust, motionless.
Dressed as a beggar and sleeping in the road!
I fear it wants to speak to me but can’t.
Secrets of a different life are hidden under that warn cloth, I’m sure.
I wonder, is the little fellow dying to share its’ secrets with the
rest of the world, maybe not? Shall
prodding it arouse a response? Why
do that which is expected of me? What
do I know? After all, kindness is
left to young maidens and waifs lacking. Who
am I to try this ‘kindness’ and hold my breath?
Perhaps I will like ‘kindness’, who’s to say?
After all, out here in the boonies, who’s to see me should I fall?
How many have a chance to experience ‘kindnesses’ for the very first
time? This feeling has a familiar
tinge; on a drunk, I may have inadvertently practiced ‘kindnesses’ before
and not known it. I ask you, who
keeps track of such things anyway? Perhaps I’ll just leave it alone and go my
way, after all, what’s in it for me I ask?
This ‘kindness’ can be exhausting to the uninitiated!
Besides, every time I come this way, there it is, sitting by itself in
the same, exact spot. Where’s everyone else’s ‘kindness’? This is
nothing new to me, the perpetual worrier! A slight breeze raced by and for a
brief moment, forced the naive to life! Although
a floundering, flapping sound emanating from a tattered jacket is no proof of a
heartbeat; it did move! I could practice a little compassion and attempt
communication with this obvious outcast, but why? That’s two pressures I’m
putting on myself for no reason! First
‘kindness’, then ‘compassion’, what’s to come of me, am I daft? Who
knows, many creatures sense fear, perhaps this is one of those?
If it knew I was friendly would it spring to life?
Maybe the little guy is defending itself?
Forget it; on my next trip I will pick it up and take it with me, no
reason to burden myself with someone else’s needs, now is there?
Who knows, perhaps it’s ill; I could catch something, couldn’t I?
I figure if I stay here babbling to myself long enough, I could think of
plenty of reasons not to practice ‘kindness’ and ‘compassion’. Save
myself as it were. Heck, why not
take it with me this time? I’m
surely not afraid of such a small creature, am I?
After all, it looks harmless enough, doesn’t it?
Can curiosity really be that bad? I could learn a great deal from it
also, couldn’t I? That’s it! I
will take it with me on this trek and spend some time learning from it, and it
from me. I will ‘take it under my
wing’; I will nurture it with my good nature and warm heart, and it me.
It will be my student, my apprentice of sorts.
I will help it find a mate, for I surely know, loneliness can surely
bring tears and sadness. Loneliness
can leave an individual saddened with no one to share life’s adventures with;
this should never happen to the likes of me, for I have many friends to call my
own, don’t I? We need battles like
we need loneliness. Man should put
them back were he found them. They
are like a plague we cannot cure. If
this creature trusts me and opens up, I’m sure I will learn and understand its
language. A companion at a good time, I say! A companion to travel with, I say!
Of course he is an odd little fellow; nevertheless, my protégé, my pal
isn’t he?
For lack of a better word, I will call the little guy, ‘book’. RJ