The Wagoneer

  As they traveled down the well worn road, the thistles snapped, and the guitars twanged. The wagon negotiated the bumps, while the Wagoneer sat struggling to make himself comfortable on the hard wooden bench. His spine rolled with the wagon as it bumped along, trying to negotiate the rough terrain! On the other side of the road, the lane was full of wagons going the other way. John adjusted the brim of his hat, so he could avoid the stares of the people's faces as they too bumped slowly by?
  For these folks were the pretenders, having smashed up against the resistance, however valiantly, having had given it their all and lost. They were the losers in life, and worst of all they knew it!
  John found them very sad, and so as to not be impolite by staring back at them, he adjusted his hat to shade his eyes from the afternoon sun, and said to himself, You are headed in the other direction, and though you feel sorry for them, you cannot get wrapped up in their plights. For you are heading in the other direction, and you will scale any wall that is put in front of you, and you will not fail!
  Finally, the long procession of wagons ended, and John readjusted his hat so he could see the road ahead more clearly. But still he could not get those faces out of his head. Except for the children, all had down trodden looks on their faces! Some looked sullen, while still others looked angry, but all had the look of defeat in their eyes!
  The hell with them he spat out loud, what does that have to do with me? If it had not been that he had startled Max out of his sleep on the bench beside him, he wouldn't have known that he had spoken aloud? The whole thing made him feel very uneasy, his back hurt, and he shifted again in his seat!