Hesitate

Smaerd tapped him, waking him up and said “I am here again. Walk with me.”

They stepped out, Smaerd points at a man and a woman walking down a path just ahead of them and said, “Listen in, but stay out of their sight.”

Their steps were quite fast so his footsteps quickened to match the couple’s, so that he was just behind them and could eavesdrop conveniently. The lady was talking passionately.

She said “Not saying it, does not mean I am not thinking it. Humans focus too much on what is said and not what we really think.”

“It’s all about the feelings of the other person. What about mine? Humans are so intent on giving an illusion as though they genuinely care.” she continued, looking quite frustrated.

“I hope my eyes tell them exactly what I think.” she said. “Oh! If only we could say exactly what we think.” she finished with a twinkle in her eyes at the thought.

Her companion had listened to every word she said. He wasn’t going to say anything. But she kept quiet as if waiting for him to speak.

So he cleared his throat and said, “I was what most would call a bad student at school. I refused to read and loved to party. I was looking for an excuse not to complete my studies. All I needed was the people I looked up to, my teacher or mother to confirm it and tell me I could not make it through college.” He sighed softly.

“Instead, both of them said I was going to be a great man, that all I needed to do was realise my potential. It was annoying at first because I thought they could clearly see how terrible I was. But my mother repeated this statement every morning while my teacher said it every day I went to school.” He smiled, remembering his teenage years.

“I started believing it and here I am today, a successful engineer and a responsible husband to you. I would not be here if they had said exactly what they thought even though I could see the dismay in their eyes on some days when their guard was down.”

They came to a stop. He clasped her hands in his and in a soft voice said, “If we say exactly how we feel, then we would be no different from animals and there would be countless people, countless poets, engineers, doctors and scientists that would never have realised their full potential.”

She smiled at him sweetly, and one could see that she understood much more than he had said.

Smaerd looked down at his companion and said, “So do hesitate before you say exactly what you think. You may use your eyes to express yourself if you must. You are but human after all. But it is better not to if you can help it.”

Photo credit: Bessi

via Daily Prompt: Hesitate