The Stranger

I saw a stranger today. As I looked their way, they boldly stared back at me. I held their gaze as to cause them to look away, but instead their eyes rudely pierced my soul.

I stood taken aback. Few dared to hold my eyes with theirs - maybe an unconscious fear that I might see right to the inside, peek in the window while the blinds were open.

But as I looked their way, I felt a strange sensation - like maybe I was being exposed. This was a discomfort that I was unfamiliar with and I felt my breath catch in my chest. But they didn’t look away.

In their stirring depths I saw a question - an invitation even - to look in the window and to see what everyone else tried so hard to hide.

So I did what most never allowed, I looked in - into the depths, into the soul, into the mysterious expanse, of this stranger. What I expected to see I don’t know. Yet it took me by surprise that they would allow me to look upon their very essence.

I saw a stranger today. I looked into their eyes and was swept up by the tide of their hurt and sadness, their inhibitions and desperate hopes for the past, present and future. They opened the door and let me come in.

In their eyes I saw a child out on the street in ragged clothing - with a fierce unwillingness to give into the pity of those around them. I saw a fire in that child, a belief that they could do anything despite the neglect.

I saw that child reach out to the broken ones, the weak ones, the needy ones. I saw them bring in the strays and the lonely and give them home.

I saw a stranger today. In a house with family all around the dinner table. Mother and father arguing over their plates - both fire and a deep cold. The child spoke a gentle word and both were silent, but in the child’s eyes I saw a longing for a reverse of the roles.

I looked and saw the child’s heart on display in a museum. It was soft and a healthy rosy red, but instead of keeping the heart protected, all were allowed to come in and do as they pleased to it.

I saw a stranger today. They let me look inside. Something tells me they hadn’t done this before, but were dying for someone to see - someone to know. A desire - a demand, even - that I see that their heart wasn’t what it used to be.

When I looked again, I saw the same delicate frame with haggard face and gaudy array - an effort to look older and stronger than they were. Painted face and mature attire meant to hide the tender age beneath.

On their shoulders I saw the weight of the world. It was a burden far too heavy for a child to bear, yet they did their best to keep it hidden beneath their robes. I saw their fear of being found out.

I saw a stranger today. I saw people walking by, hanging their burdens on the child’s back. They praised the child for their ability to carry so much. And the child learned that the more that they carried, the more praise they received. The better their face paint and the more elaborate their costume, the more they got the love they so craved.

I saw the mask become one with the child’s face until the child no longer looked like a child - instead some distorted version of who they once were.

I saw a stranger today. In their eyes I saw a reality that was almost too painful to behold. A mess of confusion, a deep sadness and just a hint of hope. Hope that maybe I would see the truth and care.

In those swirling pools, I saw despair. Where there once burned a light, now bleak and smouldering. I saw a cry for help. I saw a malnourished heart, all cut up and purple-y.

I saw the child one last time, but gone was any child-likeness. Under the frame of their heavy guise, I saw them slouch to the ground - wearied of all the carrying. I saw them throw off the facade and reveal what was hidden beneath.

There was a skeletal figure, underfed, on the verge of death. In a last attempt to survive, I saw them reach up - bony fingers clawing toward the sky. And I saw them about to touch eternity.

I saw a stranger today. They let me see their pain. As I reached out to touch them, I saw them do the same. Expected warmth shocked by the cool glass between. And in that moment before awaited embrace, I saw that it was the reflection of my own face.