They were on a hayride, the kind that jerks and creaks and bumps along. 

Everyone seated on their own hay bale, in their own worlds. Talking, pointing, laughing.

The sun shone down on a little boy, maybe five or six— as he desperately tried to get the man he stood in front of to stop everything and offer his full attention.

“Look! Look! Look at this! Look at me!” the boy called out, waving, jumping, and squirming. He leaned in, the way kids do—trying to get his eyes to line up perfectly with the man’s. 

All at once the man turned. Adding no chaos to this storm.

Full of calm, he looked in the boy’s eyes and every so gently and oh so assuredly said,

“I see you.”