‘A Heavy Burden’ by Jason Rolfe

I passed an old friend on the way to work this morning. She was standing at the bus stop holding what appeared to be an extremely heavy bag. We stood and talked for several minutes. I could tell she was in a fair amount of pain so I offered to hold the bag for a little while. "Thanks," she said. I was right. It was heavy. I mean really heavy. She seemed genuinely grateful for the break, so I continued holding the bag while we spoke. When the bus arrived she quickly jumped aboard - and left me holding the bag! "Wait!" I shouted. Before the bus pulled away from the curb, my friend leaned out one of the windows and shouted, "See you, sucker!" Well, I sat down on the bench and opened the bag. I was curious to see what it contained. Although the object within had been well-wrapped in tissue paper, I could tell by the general shape and size that it was a grudge...an old grudge by the smell of it. "Dammit," I said. "I'll never forgive her for this. I will curse her for as long as I live." Then I picked up the bag and the heavy old grudge and continued my walk to work.