Keith walked, not making eye contact with anyone as he shared their thoughts. He couldn’t help it – though he often wished otherwise – so he skimmed along as he walked along, barely brushing everyone he passed.

They were all the same. Sad. The greater the hope the greater the capacity for failing… and humanity was nothing if not filled with hopes and dreams. So the underlying despair was there, thrumming in every person he passed and every person he didn’t.

He wanted to hug every last one. Offer them understanding and comfort. But he knew his understanding would provide no comfort.

Because he understood that everyone had sadness.

That wasn’t what anyone wanted to hear. Everyone needed to believe their sadness was unique because they needed to believe that they were unique. The one wish that all of humanity shared was the want to be unique …So the sorrow.

Keith fervently wished that he could make people realize. The sadness wasn’t invalidated by the sameness – it was validated by it. After all, could there be anything worse than something that eventually somehow affected everyone?

The sadness was everywhere and there was nothing he could do about it.

That made Keith sad.