IN A MORNING CAFE
Kanuel sat at a table by the window.
The café was small. The chairs were plastic. The coffee was bitter. Twenty years ago, he had drunk coffee in places like this. He remembered the taste. He did not remember why he had liked it.
A woman dropped her spoon. It clattered against the floor. She bent to pick it up. Kanuel watched her. She was slow. Her back curved. Her fingers trembled.
Fragile, he thought. They are all so fragile.
He looked away.
LATER THAT DAY
He walked through the stalls.
People pressed against him. Vendors shouted. Children ran between his legs. A man bumped his shoulder and did not apologize. Kanuel did not react. He simply stepped around him, his golden eyes fixed ahead.
Twenty years, he thought. The world has not changed. It is still loud. Still ugly. Still full of people who do not know they are already dead.
He bought a newspaper. The vendor smiled at him. Kanuel did not smile back. He paid and left.
—
He sat on a bench in a park.
A child kicked a ball. It rolled toward Kanuel's feet. The child ran over, breathless, grinning.
"Good morning Sir, please can you….."
Kanuel looked at the ball. He looked at the child. He picked up the ball and held it.
"What is your name?"
"Tunde."
"Tunde," Kanuel repeated. "Do you know what fear is?"
The child blinked.
"Fear is when you're scared of something."
"No," Kanuel said. "Fear is the root. Fear is the sickness. Everything else grows from it."
He handed the ball back.
The child ran away.
Kanuel watched him go.
Tolerable, he thought. The young have not yet learned to fear properly. There is time.
IN THE EVENING
He stood on a rooftop, looking at the city.
The sun was setting. The sky was orange. The buildings were small beneath him.
Aslam was right to free me, he thought. The world is still sick. The root is still there. I will cut it. One city at a time.
He turned and walked to the edge of the roof.
Below him, a couple argued. A woman cried. A man raised his voice.
Kanuel watched them.
Tolerable, he thought again. For now.
He stepped off the roof and disappeared into the dark.