Beggar outside the Church

 Beggar outside the Church

As I walked past the Church on the Voketchu street in the Old Town of Vilnius, I couldn’t help myself noticing a beggar, who was crumbled into a lump sitting outside the church gates. He intrigued me as I stood their looking at him. Was it the cold weather or was it his old age that made him sit like that. He was crumbled into a lump with his knees touching his face and back rested against the railings of the church gates. His face was hardly visible. Wrinkled eyes poking between the muffler and the cap he was wearing looked intense. A handkerchief lay in-front of him with few coins scattered onto it. It was getting dark mist was setting in. I wondered if he is even alive. I placed a coin on the handkerchief his eyes blinked and he gave me a sign of gratitude for the small help. I walked back home. Lager that night as I lay in my bed, a thought kept on making loops in my mind, Why was he there suffering in old age ?  I couldn’t sleep well that night.