IP

Dear You, 

Today, I'd like to briefly tell you about somebody I met yesterday. 

I was eating lunch at a restaurant and a fly kept buzzing around my head. It was the most frustrating experience and I thought to myself, this is exactly what always happens. I can't ever have anything nice. As I swatted at the fly my eyes fell on a man at the next table in a dark jacket with a hat pulled down low over his eyes. He looked away but we made eye contact for a second and I realised immediately that I knew him but I didn't know how.
So I went over and sat with him and said, "I know you."
"Yes." He said. 
"From where?" I asked and he sighed.
"I am your pain." He said, and I believed him. 
"I see." I said and I felt the urge to get up and walk away and to go and do something, anything else but I decided to ignore it.
"Aren't you going to run away? Or yell at me? Or scream at me and say that you knew I'd show up sooner or later?" He asked. 
"Is that what I usually do?" I replied. 
"Yes. And then you always forget about me." He said. He spotted the waiter out of the corner of his eye and said, "Would you like a drink?" 
"No, I'm fine thank you. Why are you here?" I asked and his eyes grew wide.
"Do you know, in all the times we've met, you've never asked that?" He said. 
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes." He said. I looked away for a moment before replying. 
"When my head hurts, sometimes it means I've not drunk enough water and I should drink more. When my stomach hurts, sometimes it means I've eaten the wrong thing and I should avoid it in future. When my legs hurt, it often means I've run too much and I need to give myself a break. So I imagine you must have a reason for being here." I said.
"I do. Would you like to hear it?" He said. 
"I would." I replied. 

And he whispered in my ear. And I listened. I did not think about what I wanted to say next or what I had to do later, I just listened to my pain and what it had to say. 

When he was done, I hugged him and I thanked him for telling me what he had to tell me. And then he left. 

It was one of the strangest meetings of my life. 

I hope you're well, 

Iain S. Thomas