4

On being carried

At first it was almost obtrusive. The feeling of acute pressure behind my knees was binding me, holding back the muscles in my legs from reaching their full extension.
The cold pricked my toes and my lower back tightened. My arms wrapped awkwardly around this man; hands nervously searching for a comfortable place to rest, afraid of constricting his breath.
The sensation was elusive.
Soon his arms became an organic saddle attached to the back of a strange two-legged beast. My body slumped forward on his back, head raised, looking at the path as if I was a foreigner in an unfamiliar land. I was feeling the heat and seeing the breath of my ride. My mind was pumping, converting pain into adventure, a feeling of nostalgia for an epic journey that I wasn’t undertaking.
Or was it an adventure? In its elusiveness the sensation evolved.
The arms became extensions of my legs; my body was the part of a greater being. The connection was forged. We were both the beast now. Humans were funny creatures who would smile and nod. They would accept or not notice; seemingly indifferent to the pain we were both enduring. What do these creatures think of us? Do they understand that this is an act of connection? By the act of connecting Carrier and Carried are we driving a conceptual wedge between us and mankind? They will either be touched or not notice. It doesn’t matter because We will be all the better because of it.
The journey is almost finished and a man stops his car and tells Us to get in. Is the man angry? No, he thinks I am injured and that He is carrying me to safety not realizing that he is talking to a single entity.
The journey finishes and the sensation slips into focus.

Mathew McInnis
Munjoy Hill
Portland, Maine