THE MAN THAT STOOD

They form this ability, not inherited at birth. He came out onto the streets, prepared and alert. He moved as if he were playing tag with these huge military power tools, stepping left and right as the first tank attempted to maneuver its way around the young man. My heart pounded…my palms began to sweat. He was probably the same age as me; he looked my height. I paced myself, inhaled some thick air into my tight lungs. I felt it burn down my throat.

A flash of my epic fall on the hurdles during my sophomore year of high school brought back the pain at the four scars in my right knee where the incisions were made to place in two long screws. POOF! And it was gone—brought back into this moment.

Stand in between the lines of the road, and hold on tight to your backpack and sweater—become the street; become the tank. I tried to get past him, steering the tank left and right, but he was relentless. I saw no tear in his eyes, and I wished I could say the same for me as tear drops mixed with sweat rolled down inside my helmet. I looked around and saw all the anger…such determination in my fellow classmates. DOH! Two burnt marks on my left hand from that one time I touched the stove. EHEM…he shouted something…I saw his lips move, but heard nothing through the noise inside the moving tank.

And I stood…stood in the middle of the street, still. Move with the tank—as one. He moves left, you move left. He moves right, you move right. Let it enter your body, the courage tickling down to the tip of your toes. They were told to wait for my orders to move…to roll into the Tiananmen Square and mark the infamous day that would be remembered 20years later. We were almost at the gate.

This is a mental exercise. Think about it when you wake up. Have it be your first thought. He took that step back, alarmed by the shout of the jar exploding on the floor. WOOSH! KABLAM! It left scars on the palm of his foot, forever marking him of this moment. Jump onto the tank and overpower it. You are stronger than him. Stronger than it. I woke up today…knowing something unforgettable was going to happen.