끊어진 사슬

The Broken Chain

Mateo pedaled home along the quiet mountain road as the sun began to set. He had spent the afternoon helping his grandmother stack firewood for the coming winter. Without warning, his bicycle chain snapped, and he tumbled hard onto the gravel. Pain shot through his ankle, and his phone slid somewhere into the ditch. He tried to stand, but his leg refused, and the sky was darkening. Crickets began to sing, and the cold crept slowly through his thin jacket. So he waited beside the empty road, hoping that someone kind would stop.

Those Who Hurried By

Before long, a shiny car approached, driven by a man Mateo knew from church. The man glanced over, frowned slightly, and then pressed the gas pedal harder. A while later, a woman jogged past wearing bright headphones and a focused stride. She saw the injured boy, yet she decided that helping was somebody else's duty. Both travelers clearly had somewhere important to be, or so they told themselves. Mateo felt invisible, as though his trouble simply did not matter to anyone. Still, he clung to a small hope that the next car might be different.