City Secrets 

Sometimes He feels like he’s drowning. When all is quiet, the walls of his room turn into a comfortable cage. Trapped in his own mind but he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

New York City is huge. Sometimes it feels like it’s not big enough for Noah to hide from his own thoughts. Other times, the city feels as if it could swallow him whole and leave no trace of him behind. He liked it that way best, he liked to feel small and invisible. He had become a master wallflower, with years of practice and opportunity. 

The sun beat down hot like cosmic rays against the blinding concrete. Noah walked fast despite the heat he gained in his ears from his too fast movements in the sun. He liked the breeze he could create by walking fast. He grew up in the city of opportunity, the place people went when they wanted to make something of themselves. He always found that the city protected him, building walls watched his back, and yellow street lights lit his path, showing him the way. When problems were too big, which they rarely were for Noah he turned to the city, the familiar bends and complex paths that he loved to unravel, and travel to his escape. 

“ Butter on rye, anything else.”

“ Uh no, that’s all.” Noah said 

“ $8.92, receipt?” 

“No thanks” Noah replied

Stepping back from the cart, hot sewer steam washed over his head, crawling down his throat suffocating him with it’s smell. Coughing and whipping his eyes he pulled his head back grabbing a breath of untained city air. 

“ Noah, order for Noah uh Butter on rie.” 

“Thanks.” Noah slipped out between coughs.

Retracing his steps through the city jungle he passes his usual aquantences. George the ex addict putting his life back together for his daughter he’s fighting to see. Rounding the corner under the awning beating the suns harsh heat, Debbie was pealing potatoes, back pressed up against the slightly cooler concret wall. She had recently found her birth parents, Ralli and Tom, who own a small authentic deli on the corner of Smith and Pane. Noah passed every day, he knew the cities secrets, everyone had a story to tell, and the city just happened to share with him. He saw things for what they really were, he spoke to the city because he listened, his silence told him everything he’s ever known.