They were human voices, but they were howling — howling in anger, howling in anger, howling with outrage, howling in pain. The man listened to the howling and sighed.
“So much feeling,” he said. “So much distress. I want to bring them to a safer place.”
One of the howlers overheard and stalked over to the man, face to face.
“A safe place! Safe from all of this chaos?!” the howler mocked. “Where is this so-called safe place?”
The man smiled slightly and patted his chest over his heart.
“There can always be peace here, if nowhere else,” said the man. “When you get to this place, the chaos may still exist, but you will have hope.”
“Hope?” The howl was even more derisive. “There can be no hope as long as those people —”
“Which people?” asked the man. “That guy there? The woman at the curb? The child looking on, looking scared? Which of them is those people? I’m curious.”
“The ones who are causing the problem!”
“I think the real problem is that you see ‘those people’ instead of the humans in front of you.”
“Humans?! Them!?”
“Didn’t you notice?”
“Maybe, maybe not, but they started it! They’re the same!”
“Really? They’re the same?” the man said. “Now you’re starting to understand.”
