I am Here

There’s a man.

Sitting alone in the bench and shivering from the snow.
Cold winds and dry leaves whisper to his ears. Enjoin him to seek warm, to assure company so he will not die in this cold.

He didn’t budge.

He wears gloves, jacket, hats and warm boots. But the chill still grasp his bone. He can feel it on his neck, his thigh, his throat, and eventually, his heart. The snow tells him to seek help, seek shelter to end the cold.

He sit still.

There’s passerby around him. Many, many people who walks in front his face. They have the same outfit as this man; gloves, jacket, hats and warm boots. Yet they didn’t feel cold at all. All of them smiling, full of happiness. Ignoring the roar of the cold and the wind together.

He shivers more.

He didn’t want to see other people face.
He’s didn’t want feel their joy.

He’s in pain.
The wind and the snow didn’t do that to him.
It’s loneliness.

He then looks at his feet,
With teary eyes and fake smile on his face.

There are tons of paper full of joyful words he made. Full of color, contains many dreams, happiness, and even his whole life purposes. It is beautiful indeed. A positive message for everyone who saw it. Not even people, even animals will feel its happiness.

His fake smile got wider.
His chest start pounding. There’s pain, raging inside and wants to come out.
He stick out his hand. He want to take the paper from his feet and giving it to other people, so they can feel his happiness.

His hand suddenly shivers.
And stop before he can take those papers.

The face from other people who rejects the paper running back on his mind. That ignoring, laughing, dismiss, disrespecting, humiliating, and degrading face suddenly appear on his face, again.

His fake smile go even wider.
His eyes looks like summer cloud, ready to pour heavy rain in any second.

But then, there is a woman.
Magically sitting on the bench, side by side.

The man didn’t know here she comes from. No idea how she got there.

She wears something he never known before.
She moves like something he never saw before.
She smiles not like anybody he saw before.

The woman then looks at him.

She watch the man sticking out his hand, trying to get the papers on his feet. Her body then lean more closer to him, sticking out her hand, also trying to get the papers from his feet.

The man then got petrified. Mortified. Stupefied.
He can’t talk, his eyes and mouth locked.
He got mesmerized by the woman actions.

The woman then ask him :

This is yours?

And the man answered :

Yes, those are mine..

The woman then looks at the paper. Reading it letter by letter. Looks all the shape, all the color, and all the message written. Her face suddenly looks a little bit confused, but then do something the man has never seen before:

She smiles.
She smiles vastly.

It was the most sweetest thing the man ever seen in his entire life.
That smile, that damn smile, is what the man needs all this time.

Suddenly,
He burst into tears.
He is crying, loudly.

He try to hold, yet the emotion is unbearable.
The pain in the chest suddenly comes out and become tears on his eyes.

The women then got confused, feels his empathy and ask him hastily :

“What’s wrong? Did I do something horrible?”

He cries even more.
His head facing down, his face got wet from his own tears.
His mouth wide open, screaming in silence.

One second, two seconds.
One minute, two minutes.
The man still crying,
The woman still watching.

The man then sniffs, trying to get hold of himself, be a gentlemen he is.
He then looks at the woman eyes, who got worried about him for a moment.

“You’re the reason I’m here”

The man then mumbled that word to the woman with his raspy voice.
With full of love, full of joy, and full of happiness. The man then talks to the woman:

“I’ve been longing for your smiles for many years.
I’ve been waiting for someone who can smile upon my papers.
Upon my goals, upon my hopes, upon my dreams.
I just want someone to take a mere look for a seconds,
to listen for just a moment, to feel what I feel for a tiny fraction”

He cries some more. Not loudly, but he’s still crying.
The women who earlier looks confused, now feel relieved.
She then touch the man cheek, wiping out his tear with her love and smile.
That smile, that damn smile.

“I am here”

She whisper calmly. Soft, yet strong.
She put his finger on the man’s chin, lifting his face up, make him look directly towards her eyes.

“I am here. You don’t have to worry anymore. I’m here.
I’ll be your listener. I’ll be your support, I’m here.
I’ll be in your side. I’ll be your partner, I’m here.
You’re here, and I’m finally here”

Their eyes then both got locked on each other, gazing each other beauty from the inside.

Suddenly, the wind didn’t howling anymore.
The air got warm, the snow begone, and the pain move on.
They both still staring at each other eyes,
Striping each other souls.

Finally, destiny does it’s job;
Crossing two separate line in one place