The Burden

The Burden

“Brush it off and let’s keep moving. You haven’t found anything worth keeping yet, and I don’t expect you will here.” Sir Henry sternly stated to the youngest member of our group, Banner, as he strode towards the meeting point at the river’s edge. Named after the first piece of old history he had tried to bring along with us, banner had an eye for anything that could not be used in any practical way. In this instance, the 11 year old boy stood upright with his head hung straight down contemplating what to do with his discovery. A dull golden locket, complete with a hinge to both protect whatever is inside, and to allow access at viewing said object.

Banner looked up at the leader of our group who would not look back, which is why we put so much trust in him to begin with, and then back down to the locket he seemed to enjoy so much. Hastily Banner stuffed the locket into the front chest pocket of his flannel leaving the chain hanging down haphazardly. He scrambled over the jagged remains of the house, on top of which he had first spotted the gleam of the locket in the first place. Nearly catching the chain on broken furniture, Banner made his way back to the group and settled into formation just in front of myself. He seemed less enthusiastic than usual. More often the kid would run off to the sides of the group, attempting to burden something larger than himself in the hopes someone would help him. “Perhaps this time he’s made a wise decision. He’s decided to carry a weight more accustomed to his frame” I thought to myself, somewhat proud of this orphaned outcast of a child with whom I shared only the similarity of being stuck in this hellscape with no other option than to follow this chain mailed madman to the Mississippi river.

Lost in my own mind momentarily, I failed to notice banner had stopped abruptly. His gaze directly 90 degrees to his right, most likely homed in on his next expedition.

“Keep moving kid, we don’t have time for this.” I snarled as I accidentally bumped into his back. It had been decided I carry extra laundry in a large pack for the good of the group, and I found it upsetting since none of it was mine. I owned no belongings. Taking out my frustration on Banner was easy, and no one would look down on me for it. Banner sped up quickly, setting off to the far side of the group, where he undoubtedly believed he would have a better chance of finding something else to waste our time with.

Where Banner had just stood moments ago was the locket he had located in the debris. Seeing it there in the well-traveled foot path piqued my curiosity. Nudging it with my foot flipped the locket open harshly, as if this heart easily open would spill forth and numb the pain of the world started with one simple step forward. The latch must be broken. There was nothing good to happen. Not here. Not ever again. Inside one half way burnt completely, which was odd since the outside appeared only to be dirty from the soil. The other half was burnt slightly and showed the smiling face of a woman kissing directly forward, which must have meant the burnt side was a man presumably doing the same. Perhaps this was a lost love story from before the collapse. Perhaps during or after as well. Either way, the only course of action that made any since to me quickly became apparent. I scooped dirt with the inside edge of my foot, covering the locket completely. Not only was the outside dirty, the inside burnt, but now it was filthy in its entirety. Like the world that brought us to this point, striving for happiness and expecting love to blossom around every corner, this locket so to will have become lost with time. If a child like Banner is not shown what love is, or what it is thought to be, then perhaps he may grow to help build a world without that impurity. I’ve done a good deed, in fact I’ve done Banner, no, the world a favor. Never again will anyone feel the need to carry the burdensome weight of the love lost inside this locket.