Afternoon, road & the man - I

He had been walking 3 continuous hours now, the sun beating down hard. His leather shoes, heated up by the boiling concrete of the road seemed to singe his toes within, wriggling them within only increased the discomfort.

He looked at his watch...the metal strap shining amidst the innumerable beads of perspiration formed a sheath over his arm. It was 2 o' clock in the afternoon, 4 hours before he could expect another human form to tread that route. It had been six months since this road had been made. Meandering through the endless carcasses of trees that lined it, it had few visitors all summers except the wood collectors who came for collecting fuel in the evenings & in early mornings.

Inadvertently, he sat down by the road. The smell of tar oozed out from the road below like the reek of blood from an open wound ... he tried to close his eyes & realised that probably keeping them open gave him more comfort. His eyelids seemed to smart in their togetherness & a stray tear drop mingled with the wetness of his face.

Physical hardship & emotional turmoil have strange similarities in their visible manifestations. He cupped his hands over his forehead, an uncanny stillness engulfed him.

A stray dry leaf dragged by in the wind, stirring him to life. His eyes followed it till it rested itself against a stone & rolled no more. The hope that the lifeless kindled in him was rested awhile as he stared ahead at nothing in particular. It was quiet around him & the silence was deafening...