True Defeat
It was a sultry dawn with a cloudless sky painting a light cerulean blue across the heavens. The wind was only a light brushing of air, barely even noticeable. Something cool wiping your arm really. People walking down the streets were doing so in baggy, sleeveless t-shirts, they weren't in the thick wool sweaters they had worn in winter with their pants rolled halfway up their legs. I believe it was in blessed June, the hottest month of the year. As I simply relished in the breeze's presence on that day, it was lifting my hair with an enjoyably light, spider-like movement, I noticed Ben, sitting halfway across the field (where no one would expect him to be). Let me tell you about Ben. He was the youngest in my class, nothing more than a timid, frail, exceedingly polite boy who in my opinion, still was clinging onto that last bit of boyhood far too tightly. He had moved here from somewhere and hence joined my class only a few small weeks ago and much like me, lacked any tru