Joker Amidst The Crowd.

Walking by the bridge, painted with vibrant colours, with joyous people, with loud laughter and bright smile, I saw a monochrome, a grayscale on the side.

There I saw a joker, standing alone in the black and white, not joining the colours of fun with others. He was just standing there, staring far out far into the abyss.

As he noticed my presence, he camouflaged himself with the colours of others, assuming their laughter and behaviour. It was a magic scene but it was, in one way, sad.

"May I amuse you with some of my petty tricks?"

"Sure.", I replied.

He turned his surroundings into a bed of flowers. Dandelions, roses, and others. It was simply surreal. But that didn't amuse me as much.

"Remove your mask."

"I'm afraid I can't. I am a joker.", he said with a pause followed by a fake laughter.

His emotions hid well inside his mask. But his greyscale was clear. He was a man who has lost his identity of self. Faking his colours, he hid with the crowd.

He was lost in the void, numb to his heart, deaf to his voice, drowning in the darkness and suffocating in thoughts.

He is a fighter, he is fighting.

He is a joker, he makes people laugh.

He is one of the crowd hidden with colours.

"But you are a human too."

He stopped saying anything.

"Thank you." was the only thing he said.

"How heavy is that mask you are wearing?"

"I guess its a bit heavy. It gets heavier everyday, but I think I can bear it... you don't have to worry about it."

I went up to him and removed his mask. It was lightweight. But he was crying. The flowerbed around him died and became greyscale. It was all a fake, a mask.

----

Every day thousands of people commit suicide, and most of them are jokers like above. They hide themselves in a mask and cover their emotions. They are fighting their mental health, and when they lose, they are gone.

So check up on your family members or your friends, or maybe someone you just met. They might look fine, but most often they are not. And they won't share it with you until you make an effort and make them tell you.

Remember, the mask they are wearing is heavy only to them, but it is light to you. So you can take off their heavy mask easily rather than them taking it off themselves.

They have emotions too. Let their heart be lighter by sharing it with you. You might be the reason they lived for another day.