The Confessor

On a park bench in the autumn sits a woman with her gloved hands pressed against her face, her head hanging and her shoulders are shaking - she is clearly upset. A passing older gentleman comes and sits quietly by her side.

After a while, she peeks at him from behind her gloves and sees that he is kind and means her well. His presence is soothing. He doesn't say much at all, but the woman finds she pours out all her worldly troubles to the stranger. It is as though he takes them all, enfolds them into himself and there comes a time when the woman takes a deep sigh of relief - her burdens have been taken from her. She wants to start to thank the man, but he just smiles, touches her briefly on the shoulder, and walks away, through the autumn leaves.