• The Man in the Mask


    It wasn't exactly a normal meeting. No, normal is far from it. I had talked to this man purely out of interest. He was simply different than others. Different in every shape and form. But he intrigued me. I don't remember what it was that did. It was probably his dark aura. Or maybe it was his stunning eyes. No, it was truly the mask he wore. I remember.

    I stood in front of him beside the building. He was wearing all black on a hot summer's day. Why you may ask? Even I haven't quite understood. But still, I stood staring down at him, his eyes glazed over with a feel of sorrow. A feel of emptiness. It broke my heart even more to see such a young man so cold.

    "Why are you so sad?" He didn't reply. He simply looked up at me with those hazelnut eyes. The very slightest hint of surprise ever gracing them. He still didn't answer. But I was determined to help him. I stood there beside him, still waiting for a reply.

    It felt as if hours had gone by till he finally answered me. "Someone close to me is gone." Now I understood. I had lost someone close too. I was standing on the edge, probably like he was. I was ready to jump. But there was always something holding me back. He looked the same as I first did. It was probably a recent accident.

    "I understand." I could feel his gaze on me. A twisted look of shock and confusion is his eyes. I didn't know what he was thinking. But he seemed to gain a little bit of trust in me. He stood up, towering at least a foot over me. Damn my shortness. But I looked up at him, a ghost of a smile playing across his face for a mere second.

    He began to walk away, but I followed. I kept following until he chose to speak again. "Why are you following me?" He didn't wait for an answer, just kept walking. I smiled.

    "Because you're interesting." He stopped in his tracks. He glanced over his shoulder at me. I stared up at him, his hazelnut eyes glazed over in thought once more. I smiled up at him. He leaned against the wall of a different building, sliding down till he was sitting again.

    "And how am I so interesting?" I smiled to myself and sat down beside him.

    "Because I've never met someone like me before." He stared at me again. His eyes and expression unreadable. But what I said was true. I had never met someone like me before. Someone who stood on the edge wanting to jump. Someone who's felt pain in their heart as I had. Someone who wore a mask to the world. I know now that he felt the same way about me.

    I took out a piece of paper and scribbled down my e-mail. I handed it to him, a wide grin on my face. "If you ever want to talk, I'll be here." He took the tiny piece of paper, quickly glanced at the address and shoved it into his pocket. As we parted back to our own little worlds, I called back to him. "Try to stop wearing your mask as well."

    He never did stop wearing his mask. But I'm the only one who got to see his face. And I smiled. The man in the mask. The man who was broken. The man who was so abused in life. The man who I reached out to. The man who changed my world as I changed his.


    The man in the mask who I simply fell in love with.