128: The Power of the Small

You lean against the lamp post across the street from the 7/11. It's not quite midnight, but it's dark enough that when you light the cigarette it glares red between your fingertips. Inhaling, you tilt your head back and slowly release the smoke. There's no wind, so it rises up, up, up like a host set on extinguishing the lamp light. But before it gets that far, the night absorbs it into its shadows. And yet the lamp light flickers—a split second of doubt. You smile. How weak the foundations of the great are, if less than a breath disturbs them.

Finishing your cigarette, you drop it and crush the red glare beneath your heel. The great can sleep in peace for another night.

Written by: Katrine H. (@katrinehjulstad)