Lips Like Coffee

cup: 1

Pen

She happened on a Monday. It's something I will never forget, because the sky was a shade of blue I had never seen before. Dark, warm, and clear, it painted the city line with soft delicate strokes. The sight was so beautiful, that it saddened me to have it disappear as I entered the tube. My slow pace picked up once I hit the platform, and I rushed to catch my train.

Bustling my way onto the carriage, I hung on to the overhead railing as there was nowhere else to sit. I towered over many of the passengers, and was able to see the array of pigments clumped together in the car. Every face unique from the one next to it, and lives vastly different from the others. All of them had a story, with pages bent, stained, torn, and frayed. My story, well, I added a new chapter that day.

Once the train came to a halt at my stop, I trudged off, back on to the platform with my hands in my pockets. I moved with the small crowd of people going up the stairs, and emerged back into the dull sunlight of the early afternoon. The light warmth caressing my cheeks as I walked the along the smooth pavement. People in trench coats, suits, dresses, and jeans, darted by me in every direction, and I couldn't help but notice them all. They were all so flushed to get wherever they were going, not once looking up, that they didn't take time to appreciate each other.

Every person seemed to be moving at the speed of light, heads down with arms close to their stiff bodies. They didn't stop to greet other passer-byers, or even a smile of acknowledgment, just going. None of them took time to witness the beauty of the other people around them, moving with purpose instead of ease. All too impatient, bound by time, to relish in the wonder around them. Too busy, even, to just glance up at the sky.

A woman in green pushed a stroller hurriedly past, dropping a small bear on the ground in the process. In the time I had bent down to pick the bear up and return it, she had already been lost in the sea of people on the sidewalk. Only shaking my head, I continued on my way --bear in hand-- until I came across a girl in an alley. This was the first time I had seen her, the second will come a few hours later.

Her hair seemed just as wild as the look in her wide brown eyes, and her face smudged with dirt. From my vantage point, I stood and watched as she sat the mouth of the alleyway, begging strangers for money. No one stopped. Something within me stirred, and to this day I have no idea what that feeling was. Pity, privileged guilt, or even a simple case of butterflies, I can't be sure, but it was something. And that something made my feet move toward her, the bear in my hand suddenly on fire as I approached her. The action thoughtless as I squatted down in front of her, and her leaning away in either fright or surprise.

Not able to gather words to say, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. Forty dollars and a forgotten teddy bear, is what I gave her on our first meeting. She nodded her thanks, her chap lips slightly parted as she stared at me. I stood to my feet and began on my way once more, looking back once to see the girl clutching the bear to her chest. My gaze returned to the sky, and the blue still splashed the sky in its vibrancy.

Again a ripple of sadness came over me as I left the beauty behind, and entered the steel gym doors. I was greeted my many people as I strode through the building, until reaching the back door to the locker room. Tossing my bag on a bench, I change out of my regular clothes into gym shorts. With a deep breath, I go through another set of doors to the back of the gym. I tighten the white wraps on my hand, and claimed a red bag hanging from the ceiling.

"When are you actually getting in the ring," a gruff chuckle came from across the room.

"I don't fight, we've talked about this," I replied, taking my stance as I lined myself with the bag.