A Little Boy

The little boy walked down the road. People passed on the right and people passed him on the left. He stepped around those who stopped in front of him and he moved around those who were talking to their neighbors and blocking the path. He paid careful attention to each and everyone of them. He noticed their clothes and their mannerisms. He observed their behavior and absorbed their conversations.

All day he walked. He moved passed young girls and little boys, men and mothers, business men and women. He noticed every single person he passed. He saw all the scenery and all the animals. He noticed the buildings and everything around him. No one notice him, no one spoke to him. No one asked about him and no one mentioned him or missed him.

In the afternoon, he was alone and he came to a river. Along the banks of the river, he noticed a small boat. There was no one near the boat and the boat was not secured very well. The boy walked near the boat and decided to climb in. He liked the boat, so he untied the lines and let the boat float away from the shore. He silently watched as he drifted along.

He saw people walking along the shoreline, but they did not notice him. He noticed birds and dogs and cats, but they paid no attention to the boat. He paid attention to the leaves drifting down and the wind picking up, but like everything else, it was as if he wasn't even there.

The boat drifted along and eventually it drifted out of sight, though that is probably a poor description. To drift our of sight, the boat and the little boy would have had to have been in sight at one time and no one had ever seen the boy, not while he sat on the boat watching the shoreline and not while he walked along the road.

Each day we arise and we engage ourselves. We walk, we talk, we think and we contemplate. Motions are engaged in; like people walking along a road; like people along a shore; or like a little boy.