Endurance

          Why would he park his bike so far away? I can't seem to understand his broken logic, if that's what it is at all. It gets me every time, and in my late afternoons I get on the bus, but leave behind my thoughts over why that young man parks his old rusty bike twenty yards away from the little grocery store he religiously visits every day at precisely the same time. As I am helplessly taken to work by the bus driver, a gentle and talkative gentleman, I can't help but to vainly agree to most of his absurd political arguments. There's just not enough room to ponder and wonder over the delivery man and his unexplicable habbit of parking such a long walk away from his destiny, and at the same time debate over politics . I have had enough of that. The need to find out the reason behind such an idiotic act was too intense to be left alone. So I decided that today I would be late for work, I'd take the second bus, forty minutes later, but it would be worth it. It would suffice to fill in the gap in my mind, for this was clearly a mystery worth solving.

          There I was, waiting for the same bus as usual. For everyone around me, I seemed genuine, but I'm fact, I wasn't. My sole purpose of the day was none other than to fully understand the reasoning behind the suspicious actions of that random yet iconic delivery man. And so, when he at last arrived, not a minute before or after his usual timing, I stood up and followed him into the store.

As I walked into the place, I was surprised by its simplicity. There were many fresh fruit, and some house appliances by the one single cashier available. For all of its lack of size, the establishment itself had plenty of quality and charisma. It was a family business rather than just one more urban kiosk lookalike interested in making its profits primarily on smokes and chewing gum.

          I gazed here and there as I searched for the man who had led me there in the first place, and when my eyes managed to spot him, I was immediately struck by an unfathomable amount of comprehension. He was on his knees hugging a kissing a little girl of about six years old. The father daughter relationship was beyond obvious as the girl's loving eyes sparkled undescribably at every glanze of her father. His eyes on the other hand, although equally filled with stupendous love, were half drowned by fatherly tears. I shan't call them tears of regret, but perhaps of sorrow. I watched them for a moment before I decided the mystery had been solved.

          The girl's mother, the old owner told me in whispers after the man left, had died not more than a year ago, just a couple of months following the divorce which pushed her into chosing one of her parents to live with. As it turns out, she had picked mom, and after given parent passed, she moved back to her father's, but he in turn had applied and been accepted for a new job. One that would provide enough income for his child and himself. However, with his other prior half gone, he needed more, thus explaining why he would moonlight by making deliveries across town and through the night. Unfortunately, given job allowed him to see his young lady only twice a day; first when she'd wake up to go to school, and then late at night when he would eventually pick her up from the small and trustworthy family business two streets down from their apartment. I am honestly unable to tell which of them has the worst day, since not for a second I am able to put myself in his shoes and imagine what kind of exhaustion he must be enduring for her sake, and I also wouldn't dare picturing the pain of losing a mother, specially at such a young age.

          Why does he park his old busted bike so far away? That's just it... It might seem distant if you're a mere spectator to his life. For him, though, it's the longest walk in the world when he needs to go back to work after having spent somewhere between twenty and thirty minutes in that small store, and through that entire time, not allowing for a single moment to go by  in which she's not within his warm and loving embrace. When it's time to finally let her go, are you bold enough to imagine his longing? Every step he takes towards his bike is a chance to go back and spend one more precious moment with her. If he could, he would doubtlessly park a mile away, just so that moment could last a little longer.

          How much is time worth, if not everything?