it was 115 out
in that type of heat
saying you’re hot
is an understatement
you could actually die
I was thirty and out of
beer
I needed to hydrate myself
got in the car and headed
13 miles or so to the nearest
shop
driving in that heat with the
windows down
doesn’t do anything for you
unless you are dripping sweat
luckily I was
because the heat from that wind
blasting in does little to
refresh
I eventually pulled up
to the little desert
liquor store
that brags having
“the coldest beer in town”
I was about to put that to the
to the test
although
I don’t think there was
any other place in town
that I could’ve grabbed beer
I was trying to pull a shirt on
over my sweaty, sticky body
when I noticed something strange
behind the shop
is a little dirt road
that goes off for miles
to some dwellings and god knows what
and on this road
I saw a young man walking towards the shop
in that blazing heat
he had on red jogging shorts
and a plain white T-shirt
a couple sizes too small
this man wasn’t fit by any means
portly I would say
he seemed to have a little bit of a
hitch in his get-along
then as he came closer
I saw that he was barefoot
that sand must’ve been scorching
his feet
I looked down the road and the
nearest dwelling had to be
over a mile away
he had walked that whole way
barefoot in this heat
he then would cup his hand to his ear
and talk a bit then laugh hysterically
he would see stuff on the ground
I don’t know what
bugs or rocks
lean over and grab them
and shove them in his mouth
chew whatever it was up
and eat it
he laughed and laughed
once he got to the parking lot
it was all hard and sharp gravel
he didn’t break stride
he just kept walking his bare feet
across the terrain without a flinch
when he made it across the lot
he just sat on the ground
on the shady side of the shop
smiling, giggling and pulling on his ear
I didn’t see a bluetooth there
and went with my gut
that the guy was just a little
simple
I was so jealous of this guy
didn’t seem to have a care in the world
and most importantly
he seemed HAPPY
HAPPY
HAPPY HAPPY
I felt ashamed
I felt awful
this simple guy
he stole something from me
he took my blinders away
forced me to see what was there all along
he mugged me
he held at me at gunpoint
he lifted the veil from my eyes
and I’m pretty sure I didn’t even
register into this guy’s mind
I was just a bird or a butterfly
or a car speeding down the highway
here one second
gone the next
I drove away
leaving him sitting in the shade
smiling
eating his bugs or rocks
and talking to his ear
hearing the best jokes around
I on the other hand
felt miserable
knowing I would never be that HAPPY
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