You are all the same person.
The Little Boy, tricky and antsy. Trying to turn everything into a game and pushing away words that smell vaguely of homework or wholesomeness.
The Old Man, lonely in the dark. Cowering. Anxiety has filled him up. A knot in his stomach he used to recognize as too much coffee or apprehension. Would the mortgage be paid? What if the WORST happens? Fire? Car accident? Now, nothing is at stake. And he is terrified all the time.
But the Grown Man, sitting in the car, thinks only of his disguises. The warm smiles he gets as the Little Boy. The cold shoulder as the Old Man.
His major Test of them all.
He will only love those people who love him at every age.
And if they manage to pass that Test, he will make up others.
He stands in the hallway. Waiting for the elevator. Looking straight ahead, a grown man, peaceful in this moment. But when he emerges, he might have shapeshifted into someone else. This is the secret power he tells nobody about.
When he emerges, he will be His Own Mystery.
The Little Boy, tricky and antsy. Trying to turn everything into a game and pushing away words that smell vaguely of homework or wholesomeness.
The Old Man, lonely in the dark. Cowering. Anxiety has filled him up. A knot in his stomach he used to recognize as too much coffee or apprehension. Would the mortgage be paid? What if the WORST happens? Fire? Car accident? Now, nothing is at stake. And he is terrified all the time.
But the Grown Man, sitting in the car, thinks only of his disguises. The warm smiles he gets as the Little Boy. The cold shoulder as the Old Man.
His major Test of them all.
He will only love those people who love him at every age.
And if they manage to pass that Test, he will make up others.
He stands in the hallway. Waiting for the elevator. Looking straight ahead, a grown man, peaceful in this moment. But when he emerges, he might have shapeshifted into someone else. This is the secret power he tells nobody about.
When he emerges, he will be His Own Mystery.
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