He entered limping, though I saw no wound.
He had the posture of a soldier, but no armor.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHR48i2jbBw
The breath of a runner, but no destination.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGGDvjSC1y2
The look of someone who had survived barely and resented it.
He did not sit.
He stood by the wall and whispered:62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNiTuuIHyG9
62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTf3SK6K9L
“How much farther could we march62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW7CtubXlFH
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkDAPQL5Y1v
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9193noxRn
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.62Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0JlyhwZKr
But I remember the sound of what he let go.
And that is enough to keep him from the second death.
ns216.73.216.171da2
and then Add to home screen.