He entered limping, though I saw no wound.
He had the posture of a soldier, but no armor.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVLntdl7M2
The breath of a runner, but no destination.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrO7rku5qDw
The look of someone who had survived barely and resented it.
He did not sit.
He stood by the wall and whispered:57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQITYkHf048
57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡThP195mIMU
“How much farther could we march57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ft9EhFWDb
if we weren’t forced to carry our fears on our backs?”
No one else was in the tavern.
He didn’t look at me.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXZxGJ4oyB
But I brewed.
A slow-steep from ironseed, thistleroot, and something rare, gathered long ago from the cloak of a guest who said, “Courage tastes like forgetting what tried to stop you.”
He drank it like it was a punishment.
And then, he cried- not loudly.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLXKTkgBqm
Just one sound. Like a pack falling from the shoulders.
He left without taking the mug.
And I didn’t wash it.
It still smells faintly of rain and rust.
I don’t know his name.57Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDdCpenksPm
But I remember the sound of what he let go.
And that is enough to keep him from the second death.
ns216.73.216.251da2
