He entered limping, though I saw no wound.
He had the posture of a soldier, but no armor.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9et0ahkJ1
The breath of a runner, but no destination.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrtVCVjegv0
The look of someone who had survived barely and resented it.
He did not sit.
He stood by the wall and whispered:56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1uJTJltUgY
56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFCSOMzOUHO
“How much farther could we march56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHE1NkH0FKK
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkO1F6v1Kqf
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqF6MjgjLNN
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.56Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb3oy267NZb
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
