Lonely & Small

Photo by Kristina Tripkovic on Unsplash

I watched her walk across the field and away from the school. The grass beneath her feet was dying and the sky, which had produced rain all day, was getting dark. Despite her considerable height, she looked so vulnerable, lonely, and small — so exposed to the harsher elements of the world. Her back was to me, but her steps betrayed her sadness. And I could tell that she was cold. She walked as though she carried not just a bag filled with papers to grade, but a…