The Man Who Lookout Outwards
His eyes relieved him of the wide blue cloudless sky of opportunity, all his trials and tribulations had led him here even though he know they were nowhere near done yet. He took a step and crunched down on the sandy dune reflecting heat on his face. Or maybe not because with one more step he found himself surrounded by water. Now looking back up he realized it wasn’t the blue sky he saw, but the endless ocean. “The ocean is a desert with its life underground, and a perfect disguise above,” the words of America echoed in the back of his mind.
To his relief, he was able to inhale the water as if ordinary air. But the weight of the water above held him down as he step on. He the outsider remembered why he was there, why through all his pain and anguish he stood tall. Among the crowds of others, he walked a path that few seemed to understand, which is why he was so alone. While he did prefer to be alone at times, a side of him wished that someone would come to aid him in his journey. To look into his eyes and have an understanding of him, not judgment.
Suddenly he dropped to his knees all that weight had carried mentally brought him down. He opened his mouth to scream, cruse, annoy, whatever it was that made him so but found that nothing would come out. Defeated he stayed there, tears colliding with the surrounding water. Why was he here? Where were we all here? Questions of identity and fitting in are one of the most fundamental aspects of being human, yet he felt he was the only one without an answer.
Through redden eyes, he truly felt alone, with no one to save him, except himself. You’re never truly alone because you are all you have in the end. A smile grew on his face, which twitch to a frown, which twitch to smirk, and once more back to a smile. He got back up on his feet and looked once more at the shimmering reflection of the sun on the water above. With a deep breath, he let out a laugh, something he hadn’t done in some time.
The weight on his body slowly began to fade as a thunk shook his core. His eyes clear of sadness looked down at his hands. Shackles flashed on the sandy floor below, their chains flowing in the sea breeze. Basking in his shed off the weight he stretched his body and jumped with a force that propelled him like a torpedo. He breached the water and for once in a long time felt the warmth of the sun on his face. He was still alone, but he broke through.
In the distance, he could make out ashore, from here he wading in the water at first intimidate at the grand scale of where he was. Yet he knows the only thing he can do now is swim, swim to reach the shore, and swim to get him to the next stage of his life. Part of him hated the long argument journey had shined ahead, he knew this was all he could do, and for now, it was another means to an end.
Nahai 2022
