She shuffled along with her head down, not looking at anyone, almost oblivious to those who shook their heads and quickly looked away.  The sight of the old woman made them uncomfortable.   Everything she owned was stuffed into a few plastic bags which she kept close to her body as she finally sat to rest on a park bench.  Ragged clothes with shoes that were sizes too large for her feet and a worn hat that had been rescued from a trash barrel.  The lines on her face were evidence of the paths she had traveled in life; once familiar roads that led to dark alleyways where she sought shelter from the world each night and huddled with her memories.

There was a story there, a beginning, middle and so much more that no one knew or cared to learn about.  Had she been a wealthy recluse, running away from a life most fantasize about?  Perhaps a woman deeply hurt by unrequited love or a mother who had lost a child along with herself in the years that followed. 

Lying in a tattered heap of blankets, her tired eyes opened to the sun bringing one more day and she cried… over unanswered prayers.