they stand by the side of the road...

…not looking to cross it or, indeed, looking to do anything at all. snowflakes blow carelessly across their vacant faces. they are well-dressed, often carrying bags of shopping or briefcases, and they just stare into the snow with a terrible yearning on their faces. i see about one a day, however grim the weather. they are suffering from what they call here a ‘depreznyak’ – a little depression. it is a tiny bleakness that shrivels the soul, like dusting a slug with salt. the distress is acute and paralysing, at least for a few minutes or hours, and then they carry on as if they had merely wandered in and out of an accidental void. no-one is astonished.