Little bits aren't so clear and then I feel braver.

My short sentence fell from me and I started bleeding. I hurt him. I think. I tried to make amends. Thank you so much, I said. I will try to jam it shut. My thanks had none of reality in it. It was too late. I had lost the moment, and I knew it. He closed the door from the outside, and I closed it from the inside. He turned, and I watched him go. But he didn't. He waited. His first movement was so small, I saw how long then it had taken to walk up my steps. I started crying. I stood there, confused, and watched him go down the steps, very slowly, cane first. It was not sad. But I had disrespected the effort. I had confused him slightly by being callous.

(It's not a story...it's just real life.)