An Undeserving Amount of Benevolence

    The haze, heavy and thick, still hung in the air from the previous night’s rain, it was a thickness so intense that while reaching for the doorknob she wondered if she would have to force the door open, moving the heavy mass aside and letting her breathe in the smell of a new morning perfumed with fresh rain. Stepping out of the house into the chill of the spring morning she noticed that the driveway, walkway, and roadway were all striped with the patterns of worms crisscrossing paths while trying to stay out of the danger of the water. Being such a kind caring soul, the girl went out of her way to avoid stepping on the helpless creatures. The girl walked on cautiously, keeping her head bent toward the ground to make sure she didn’t accidentally crush the life out of one of the worms. She stood above them, like a god, walking on and on, observing each worm and the importance and individuality that each one held. She imagined them thanking her for saving their tiny lives as she tread onward, she was doing them a favor they could only hope to pay her back. The cracks of the sidewalk progressed and bounced in her view as she plodded on toward the school, tip toeing around the small creatures as if each life held more of a value than her own. The cracks of the sidewalk had now been traded for a new terrain, smooth and black. The worms slithered along at their slow speed leaving almost invisible trails behind them. The girl looked at them admiring their simplicity she breathed in the heavy air, there then came a deafening screeching of tires, the air was heavy with damp and chaos. So much so that this breath to her seemed crush everything out of her. The car came to a halt ten feet past the point of breaking, black on black the tire marks were left smoking still. As the girl lay, dying, in front of the car she moved her arm one last time to let a worm proceed to safety.