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He Only Opens His Eyes When He Has To
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He only opens his eyes when he has to. The rest
of the time he suppresses talking about the issues
that confront his mind. At some point in his life
he learned not to express himself. Opening up not
only requires truth, it also invites ridicule. Admitting
weakness helps other weak beings find excuses to
attack his opinions. He prefers crouching in the dirt
to showering away the mud of disappointments. At
one point in his life he had tried to share his emotions.
He had arranged an appointment with the high school
guidance counsellor. It was going to be his moment
to explore the doubts and fears he had harboured
since being born. The meeting seemed to go well and
he left feeling relieved and excited. Going home from
school he found that they had shared his visions with
his parents. This began a new pattern of verbal abuse.
They mocked him and insulted him. They gave him
speeches on taking problems to a stranger. That was
the last time he ever shared a private thought with
anyone. Even the stupid learn the times they need
to be smart. Intelligence for him was staying inked
on the side of the paper. Now that he was well past
the high school age, he still kept that lack of discretion
as a blueprint for existing on the mortal plane. He smiled
and talked a great deal. he was actually quite pleasant
to communicate with. It's only after that one realizes that
in all of his verbiage not a breath of his reality ever issued
from his lips. You left him thinking he had shared a great
deal, and only after did it become obvious he had only
filled the air with glass metaphors that shattered like
lightbulbs falling to the ground. He liked to keep his
attention on words he wrote for strangers to read. One
day he'll probably quietly lock his doors and once behind
his plastic walls he'll drink himself into an early grave. At
his funeral, people will say they miss him. In truth, he had
never allowed himself to be introduced to anyone. What
they will miss is the carefully drawn shadows he called his
points of view on life. He only opens his eyes when he has to.
The rest of the time he is eating cereal without milk and
devoting all his energy to dying in pieces day by day.
