ADRIFT

A mother holds a little boy's hand as they cross the road, and he looks so small, so vulnerable, so uncertain in this big dangerous world where everything's so confusing and he's so very new and very small.
What happened to that wide-eyed boy now become a man? He seems to know his way around; you'd think he hasn't any fears, and drinks from cans of confidence with every daily meal. He has the certain swagger becoming of his status as an office manager, and though he's circumspect, he flirts when it's safe, and in some eyes that follow him as he moves around, a look that if he heard it speak would say let's go to bed.
What happens to that grown-up man when he's all alone?
He reaches up to hold the hand as they cross the road.
He feels small and vulnerable; uncertain in this world that's so dangerous and confusing, and though he's not so very new he needs that hand he held so tight when he was a child.

He reaches up and the hand's not there.
All he found was empty air.