The shoes I wear to work

Old pair of black leather ones, scuffed at the toe from years of standing in the same spot. They don’t creak anymore—just sigh when I shift my weight. Last week, a caller kept saying 'I can’t breathe' and I didn’t hear it right until she said it again, slower. I think about that moment every time I put them on. Not because they’re special, but because they were there. The quiet kind of witness.