Susant was walking down the corridor of the dining hall after doing dishes for the night. His hands were warm, and his mind was clear. He had spent a lot of time thinking about the story Kamala had told him and had realized that his intuitive mind was more in control when he focused only on the present moment.
As he turned the corner of the hallway to leave the dining hall, he heard what sounded like the moaning of a man in pain. Just before the doors that left the dining hall, Susant could see a man in a wheelchair, with his head tilted over and his eyes turned to the ground.
The man made a second moaning sound. Susant slowly walked over toward the man, listening as he made the sound again. Judging by the way the man was sitting and slightly rocking in the chair, Susant guessed that the man might have felt pain in his back or from his shoulders. He looked around. There was nobody in the hallway. He wondered if someone was taking care of the old man or if he was just there by himself.
Susant then realized that he had seen the old man in the wheelchair once before, the very first day he had come to the monastery. It was the day he had gone to the dining hall to eat but was too afraid to ask anyone about the food, for he feared they might not be able to see him.
The old man had been alone that day. The feeling of loneliness sunk back into Susant as he remembered his own back against the wall, his body sinking slowly to the floor. Without thinking about what to do or what not to do, Susant followed his nature.
He walked toward the man and placed his hands on his shoulders, beginning to rub them. There, there, thought Susant. It's going to be all right. I am here.
The man moaned again, and Susant could not tell if he was helping. He decided that, if he were alone like this man, he would hope that someone would stop and share the loneliness with him. The man's moans subsided as Susant continued to rub his shoulders.
Eventually, a monk turned the corner and came running over to them. He spoke in the same language Susant could not understand, bowed once to the boy, then took ahold of the man's wheelchair and rolled him down the hallway. Susant did not get to see the man's eyes before he was gone, but he smiled, feeling right in his soul for his passing kindness.
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The Monastery
FantasyThe Monastery is the story of a prince raised by a cobbler. Set in a world where an Empire has been enslaving country after country for centuries, it follows the tale of young Susant, a boy born into the last free country in the world, his journey w...
