Title: The Mask
Author: Carly
Date: 9-3-09


He always wore a mask. No, not a mask that hid his face, like the one he wore to the masquerade, but a mask to hide his emotions. Day after day he hid the pain of seeing what he saw.

He saw his mother's grave on his way to work and hid the pain.

He saw the girl of his dreams in another man's arms and hid the pain.

He saw the people he used to look up to sitting on the streets, homeless, and he hid the pain.

He had gone through everything. Drugs, detoxing, love, heartbreak, death, and much more. He endured the pain every single day of his life, hiding behind his mask.

Today he walked by his mother's grave, just like he does everyday, but something changed. For a moment he took off his mask. He let go of his gaurded expression and he cried. I have never seen him cry. He let a tear slide down his cheek and he kissed his hand, pressing it to his mother's grave afterwards. I could see the words on his lips. 'I love you.'

He has seen the flowers I left by his mother's grave and studies them. He looks at me and nods, adknowleding me as I observe him. I don't nod back or wave, I just watch as he puts his mask back on and walks away, expression gaurded just as it always is. And all the while I wait, I wait for the day he takes off his mask again, reveiling a little bit of himself to me as I watch.