He stepped slightly to the right without moving any other unnecessary muscles. He had made just enough space for the woman dressed in a heavy winter coat to turn her body and sidestep through the gap to her destination. As she passed she turned back towards him to observe him , on her face was a look of understanding. He continued to stare straight in front of himself as more people passed by.A fatherless family , there were too many of those, a widowed old woman whom he took a step forward to assist over the small mountain of bookshelves and broken picture frames lying in her path. As he grabbed her upper arm she looked to him with bewilderment but said nothing. A young boy leapt over the pile of debris faster than Jesse Owens , shattering the earth beneath him when he landed. A young girl stopped directly in front of him. “Why aren’t you moving?” She asked.
“I’m in no rush tonight.”
“Do you need help ? Did you forget something at your house? Do you need something?” Her eyes were wide pink and puffy.
“You better get moving quickly if you don’t want to get locked out.” She nodded and then took off running in the same direction the entire town had traveled. A man down the street yelled “Locking Up!” and began to drag the steel door across the opening. As the bomb dropped from the airplane hovering above the clouds. He looked towards the fading photograph of his wife, eternally young. And then he stared ahead again. Focusing on the name of his son on the list of soldiers who would not be returning home , carelessly hammered to the only remaining pillar of the courthouse.