Meditation V

A man rode down the road towards his destination, a destitute town, against the grain of workers leaving. Whether on wagons or by foot, they never stopped, and as the man reached the outer limits and climbed down, the ranks of people still continued as far as he could see. With their destination so close, it wasn't hard to justify living where you had grown up. But still some carried empty jugs or dull tools, and our man walked by converted houses and coveted amenities.

He knocked on a door, and was directed to the room two floors up, housing a different family. Of course he had to walk through this first apartment, and apologized for the mud left behind. It was a child that had opened the door, so of course she didn't mind, having woken up too late to make it to school, and keeping an eye on her grandfather. The child eyed our man's leather bag, but he walked straight through to the stairs.

Upon walking through another room, and apologizing once again for his muddy tracks, he opened the door to his summons. The room was dark inside, a curtain having been pulled to cover as much light as possible, still a ray falling upon a bedside table. On the bed was lying an old man, while a young one fed him, and the man's wife sobbed while offering me a heel of bread. I turned her down, and continued through to the bed, where the young man vacated his seat and our man sat down. He opened his bag and pulled out all matter of metal instruments, finely polished and sterilized once upon a time.

The old man gasped at his first touch, but after that deflated, and our man continued to diagnose. The woman's stomach growled as she watched me, and the young man yelled at her, as he couldn't go to work today because of our man's visit, unable to perform his daily task of stealing food at work, to bring back. The woman was meek at this, but her stomach only growled louder, and eventually the man went over to the window and opened in wide. Below, the stream of people had started to slow, as those who had trouble moving or lived on the other side of town were taking there leave.

Of course, our man's horse had to defend itself from children who had never seen such a healthy beast, whether in animal or man. Our man himself had gotten quite a few stares, for not many could necessitate his visit. Of course, he did come often, just a night when everyone was home.

Once our man was finished, he packed his bag and gave the woman two coins. She cried at this, and our man could feel the young man's intentions. He left the room, and could hear the sound of two people crying, as our man descended the stairs. Whomever had been in the middle floor had long since left, to scrape something from the streets or empty houses. The child on the bottom floor, however, was waiting under the stairs, and as our man came down them, snatched the leather bag and ran out the door.

Our man couldn't do anything about it, and besides, they were provided by need, not by savings. There wasn't anything he could, no retaliation equal. So our man climbed back upon his horse and rode away. Only when he reached his house had he outrun the train. Back in his soft bed, he slept until his next message. He would need to buy another bag once he got it, but it didn't bother him. Or at least, he slept soundly despite it.