Against the Wind

by Patricia Visciarelli Quigley

His name is Jon, a homeless man who spends each day exactly like the one before, and the one before that. After rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he tosses a few worldly possessions on top of his bedding, and stuffs the rolled up bundle into the basket of his bicycle. Then he hits the road. Along his usual morning route, he stops to pick up coins he spots on the ground. He always finds the amount he needs to buy a cup of coffee to go with the day old donuts waiting for him behind the local grocery. The shaking hands of the old man at his next stop accepts the coffee and donuts with a warm smile and a wave, as he watches Jon peddle away; his tattered clothing billowing like sails as he once more rides against the wind.

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Patricia Visciarelli Quigley is a systems engineer for NASA.