The Empty Swing

Date: 14/06/2026
All Rights Reserved by the Author

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius
A man walking through a neighborhood park paused beside a swing.
There was nothing remarkable about it.
No plaque. No special design.
Just an ordinary swing moving gently in the morning breeze.
Yet it reminded him of countless evenings spent pushing his children higher and higher into the air while laughter echoed across the playground.
Years had passed.
The children had grown.
The swing remained.
Places often keep memories for us.
A park remembers footsteps.
A classroom remembers questions.
A porch remembers conversations.
The swing itself knew nothing of the people who had used it.
Yet it carried a quiet reminder of time’s passage.
Life moves forward whether we notice it or not.
Children become adults.
Parents become grandparents.
Seasons change.
Perhaps that is why ordinary places sometimes touch us so deeply.
They remind us not only of where we have been, but of how fortunate we were to be there.

Rajat Chandra Sarmah
Guwahati, Assam, India
email: rajatchandrasarmah@gmail.com
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