text: On a long and steady road with nothing but tufts of grass and pebbles scattered across it, a man and a boy walk along its ongoing path while looking ahead just enough to see where they're gonna tread on next. "..." "..." "So, do you know where we're heading to?" "..." "Not a big talker, are you?" "..." "You know, we've been walking along this road for a while now and all we've seen is just bits of grass and rocks." "..." "Aren't you curious about what's around us? We're always looking at the ground." "..." "At first, it was okay looking at the small and colorful pebbles and the fresh green grass for a while, but I'm bored now. Why don't we do something different?" "..." "Let's play a game! I know a pretty fun game that we can do!" "..." "I'll pick a rock and all we have to do is keep it in front of us by kicking it! Sounds fun, right?" "..." "I'll start!" The boy found a random pebble and started kicking it. "See? Look how fun this looks! Don't you want to join too?" "..." The man never looked up and kept on looking at his feet as he walked along the path. The boy kept kicking the pebble by himself until he passed the pebble to the man. The man never kicked the pebble back. "..." "..." The boy went back to the man's side and continued walking along his side on the long and steady road. "Do you wanna play a different game? I know another game we can play?" "..." "It's a game you could be really good at! It's a game of who can find the biggest rock! You're always looking down so you could have an advantage! Ready? Go!" "..." "I'm going to find a rock more bigger than yours!" The boy looked enthusiastically at the ground looking for the biggest rock he can find. The man kept on walking without giving any pebbles a look of interest. The boy came back carrying a rock the size of his hot red head. "Look...at...this!" The boy dropped the rock in front of the man's feet just before the man was going to take another step. The man stopped. The man looked at the rock the boy dropped and stood there for what seemed like hours. The boy was confused because this was the first time the man stopped. The man slowly looked from the rock to the boy and stared at him with his dark brown eyes showing nothing in them. "I used to collect rocks like these and play simple games with them. It was a memory that I cherished so much. It reminded me of when I had no worries about the world and no responisbilities to take care of. I was happy and free. I felt like I was going to be loved by everybody and be friends with everyone I met. Now, I'm alone. Alone on this long and unending path. I wish I could walk back but I can't. I can't go back anymore. I have to keep moving forward through fields and mountains. I have to keep going." "..." The man sighed. He looked back at his feet and muttered one last sentence before moving on. "I'm sorry I can't go back and be like you again." The man slowly walked forward one step at a time down the long and steady road, tired and alone.