Day 17

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Day 17

Why do we kill?

A wise man once said, "We all have the right to live and to kill people."

I was walking along a dirt road today. Within the city limits, but among the endless fields of crops in all directions. Their perfect pattern of growth only broken by the dirt path I was walking on.

It was a beautiful day. The crops must have loved it.

Off in the distance a man is walking down the same path in the opposite direction. I concentrate on thinking of nothing at all. The man is closer now. Maybe 50 yards away. I look up at the sun and wonder what life would be like without it. I can see now. The man is dressed in peasant's clothes. A hat half-covering his face. His arms swaying casually back and forth as he walks. He carries nothing but a modest pack slung over his left shoulder. 10 yards away. The tattered brown vest has seen some hard times. The only thing in worse condition are his shoes. I can see his big toe sticking out. They don't even fit his feet. 8 yards. Before now he was staring at the ground, now he looks up at me, nods, acknowledges my presence, and looks back down at the dirt. 7 yards. He shifts his weight to re-adjust the position of the sling of the pack that hangs over his left shoulder. 6 yards. He walks with a limp now that wasn't there before. He crosses his arms. His pace begins to slow. He doesn't mean to ask me anything. His eyes are still fixated on the ground. In fact he purposefully hides his face now. 5 yards. His pace now quickens.

I extend my arm. A moment later he falls to the ground.

I run to his body, kneel, look at him in the eyes before the life is gone.

"Why do we kill?" I ask.

"Because we're too afraid not to." He answers.

I ask because I know he was asking himself the same thing just a moment before.

He answers because he knew I was thinking the same.

I remove my shuriken from his throat. I remove his shurikens from his fingers. I don't bury his body. I don't say a prayer. I do the same he would have done for me.



***The Wise Man was Malcolm Reynolds, from the short-lived T.V. series "Firefly."

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