Feral

He is twice my age. A convicted felon. A deformed recluse.

I was warned about meeting this man. My colleagues told me no one had seen him out of his home since he was released from prison. They told me he is a dangerous man.
A murderer.

But nowhere was the extent of his burns mentioned nor that his disability has turned him into a deeply depraved man whom I craved to learn more about. A man who had shut himself off from the world the same day he was released from prison.

And still, I went, the allure of interviewing him in person too much to ignore.
My desire to tell his story too strong.

And then I met him and he all but took my breath away.

My job as a journalist, the article I was to write, the reason for my visit no longer mattered.
This wild, feral man who had defied all odds was all that mattered.
With him, I finally felt like I belonged.