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72
Nobody Asked Why He Walked Alone
<p>Nobody asked why he walked alone.</p><p><br/></p><p>Maybe because he was just a child.</p><p><br/></p><p>Children are often assumed to be fine.</p><p>If they are quiet, we call them well-behaved.</p><p>If they don't complain, we say they are strong.</p><p>If they stop asking for things, we assume they have learned.</p><p><br/></p><p>But sometimes, they have simply learned that nobody is listening.</p><p><br/></p><p>I look at this picture and wonder about him.</p><p><br/></p><p>Where was he going?</p><p><br/></p><p>Was he actually going home, or was he walking away from somewhere he didn't want to be?</p><p><br/></p><p>Was he sad?</p><p><br/></p><p>Was he angry?</p><p><br/></p><p>Or was he just a little boy taking a walk, completely unaware that someone, years later, would look at his picture and try to imagine the story behind those tiny footsteps?</p><p><br/></p><p>We never really know what a person is carrying.</p><p><br/></p><p>Especially children.</p><p><br/></p><p>A child can sit at the dinner table and laugh with everyone, then go to bed with a heart that doesn't understand why it hurts.</p><p><br/></p><p>A child can become unusually quiet and everyone calls it maturity.</p><p><br/></p><p>A child can stop talking about what bothers them because the first few times they tried, nobody took them seriously.</p><p><br/></p><p>And slowly, they learn.</p><p><br/></p><p>They learn how to swallow tears.</p><p><br/></p><p>How to say "nothing" when something is clearly wrong.</p><p><br/></p><p>How to stay out of people's way.</p><p><br/></p><p>How to walk alone.</p><p><br/></p><p>Nobody notices the change because it happens little by little.</p><p><br/></p><p>One day, they are the loud child running around the house.</p><p><br/></p><p>Then somehow, they become the child sitting quietly in a corner.</p><p><br/></p><p>And everybody says,</p><p><br/></p><p>"Ah, he has grown."</p><p><br/></p><p>Maybe he has.</p><p><br/></p><p>But maybe he has also lost something along the way.</p><p><br/></p><p>I don't know this boy.</p><p><br/></p><p>I don't know where he was going that day.</p><p><br/></p><p>I don't know what was happening behind the camera.</p><p><br/></p><p>Maybe nothing was wrong.</p><p><br/></p><p>Maybe he was simply walking home, thinking about cartoons, food, school, or whatever little things filled a child's mind.</p><p><br/></p><p>I hope that was all it was.</p><p><br/></p><p>Because sometimes, we look at old pictures and create sadness where there was none.</p><p><br/></p><p>But sometimes, a picture captures something words never could.</p><p><br/></p><p>A small boy.</p><p><br/></p><p>An empty road.</p><p><br/></p><p>And a distance he is walking all by himself.</p><p><br/></p><p>I just hope that wherever he was going,</p><p><br/></p><p>someone was waiting for him.</p><p><br/></p><p>And I hope that when he got there,</p><p><br/></p><p>he felt safe enough to stop walking.</p>
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9
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