He entered limping, though I saw no wound.
He had the posture of a soldier, but no armor.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAFDdrzaZJw
The breath of a runner, but no destination.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqTQihXhViE
The look of someone who had survived barely and resented it.
He did not sit.
He stood by the wall and whispered:27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPa8tBTJs04
27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCycLO0XAOv
“How much farther could we march27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnrd6QeJ6Ch
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9cemR7skiv
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqQf7nNanb
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.27Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDJZMMkHoxC
But I remember the sound of what he let go.
And that is enough to keep him from the second death.
ns216.73.216.110da2
