The Stories We Tell / 005

He stumbled around the corner, righting himself by the handle of his suitcase. His body was tired. His mind was worse. As he walked forward he felt his vision blur around the edges. This was nothing new, and was a surefire sign of cancer according to WebMD. Unfazed, he attempted to rub his eyes to clarity.

But they would not clear.

His vision blurred to a point where the tiny three letter codes on the screen above him looked like smudges of ink on canvas. The lady whose features he had been admiring only moments earlier seemed to lose her natural beauty. She herself replaced, by nothing more than a colored blob.

The storefront displays, marketing campaigns, restaurant menu’s and scattered signs all receded into the background. Visual noise was swapped for the calm of a borderline-surreal blur.

Life seemed simpler.

He stood there taking it in. Immersed in the beauty of a world unclear. He thought about how, yes, God may exist in the details. But peace, solitude? They were the in-betweens. The fleeting moments when we realize what is really important.

And he thought how sometimes, just sometimes, you had to get lost to find yourself. And how sometimes, just sometimes, you had to let go of clarity in order to obtain.

He blinked, his vision returned. Watch beeped, phone rang. He picked up, picked up his suitcase and walked on.