by Misaki Mihara
The Traffic Enforcer stands at the center of the intersection. She smiles cheerfully at the different vehicles whizzing past in front of her.
"So many different vehicles ne...," she thought. Big ones, small ones. New ones, old ones. Fast ones, slow ones. Each automobile was special. Each car has a story to tell... And they were all passing in front of her.
Passing in front of me...
She has been doing this job, standing in the same spot, for many years now. She likes her job. She gets to meet a lot of people, learn more about them, and smile at them. Oh, how she loves to smile! In many instances, while directing traffic, she'd meet some tired or unhappy drivers. They would look so sad, that it hurts her. So she would smile at them, and try to cheer them up. She would lighten their hearts, and make them smile. And everytime she would say, "Move on...move on..."
Move on... move on...
These people depend on her directions. These people need her smile. And at that brief instance when she stops their cars to give them a cheerful look, these people's spirits are lifted up. She cannot ask for a better job, than to touch other people's lives - even if only for that fleeting moment. So when they move past her, they are changed, even in a little way.
Move on... move on...
Yes. Eventually, these cars move on. They always do. That was the nature of her job right? She tells the vehicles to move on. But what makes it so sad is that while those people go on to another destination, she remains where she is. And so, at that split-second, the traffic enforcer realized it was not them who depended on her. But is was she who depended on them. She likes the feeling of being needed, of being important, of seeing other people smile because of her. She likes to help the cars move on their way. But when she accomplishes her job, when they leave her sight, she would always feel a pang of dismay in her heart. Because these cars move on, yet she remains.
A blue car whiz past her. A small child at the backseat grinned and waved at her, as if telling her that they were off to another more beautiful place. She smiled wistfully and waved back.
What is the world beyond what I see? I do not know. I never ventured out. It's not because I'm afraid. But because I'm content with where I am. I'm happy where I am. But sometimes, I feel a slight cramp within me. Because I wonder, what kind of a world is it out there... And what has become of those different vehicles that have moved past in front of me...
The Traffic Enforcer stands at the center of the intersection. She smiles cheerfully at the different vehicles whizzing past in front of her. (END)
***Whew! Please excuse the "crude" way of writing. *sweatdrops* I just wrote it spontaneously. I really didn't take much time to compose my thoughts. Well... one might wonder why I wrote that one. Well, let's just say that so many things from my past are coming up on the surface, so many realizations and thoughts in my mind, that I'm getting a little confused. Something was in my mind this morning, but I don't think I can explain it very well. Then this story came out of nowhere, and I thought it's a nice analogy to how I am feeling. I'm not sure though if it perfectly describes what's in my heart. I just wrote it spontaneously, after all. *grins*
I am reminded of a novel I've read, The Rescue by Nicholas Sparks. It was a story about a volunteer fireman, who always helps and rescues people in distress. He fell in love with this one woman he helped, but somehow, he was afraid. (*rolls eyes* mush.) Later on he realized (I think when he lost the woman he loves), that even though he was always saving others, it was he who needed to be rescued from the skeletons of his past. It was then that he had learned to free and forgive himself, and to open his heart to a brand new life with the woman he loves.
Misaki has a lot of thoughts in her mind. Please excuse her incoherence. ^__________^
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