Journal entry

I’d seen him before. This man with the transparent blue eyes and long dark hair. Apparently, he had seen me before as well. As he walked by, and by all intent and purpose, should have kept on walking, I said, “You look nice.” Quickly, as if on queue, he spun in my direction, smile on his aged face, and walked back toward me. “Come with me.” he said without hesitation. And without the same hesitation, I said, “No.”

It was a game, of course. As we’d known one another before.

The street was bustling with people who had the same invitation to be there that we had. Some I knew. Some were strangers. It was a bizarre grouping of people. Most of whom were gathered around a table performing some type of ritual or perhaps playing a game that involved small rocks and candles. “This is what we do.” She said to me. “Here, take this. It will help.” And with that she placed a smooth tan rock in my palm.

I still had the rock in my hand when a vehicle sped around the corner, knocking him to the ground. When he got up, the back of his silk shirt was tattered, and grains of gravel had stuck where blood had pooled. “Let me see.” I pulled the shirt away from his back. Red streaks scraped his skin but nothing more. “Get it tended.” And with that, I walked away.
~