Looking At Life, This Time
A warm fire soothes the chilled room While the cold looks elsewhere for the night. Children can be heard singing silently to themselves, while strains of wind whistle by. People rush to and fro not knowing where they are bound. Trying to distance themsleves from the past, the present and their future.
Swoosh, a city bus rumbles by heading for the end of the line. He wants to get back downtown before it's gone. Honk, the endless scream of cars trying to jockey for positions in the senseless scheme called traffic. "There's one!" someone cries from a car window. "Yes, I see it too!" someone says from the sidewalk. All heads turn and traffic begins to halt as the interest makes it's presence known.
Several birds dart off into the night, afraid of what will come. Several children begin to cry, not knowing why everything became silent. Devout Christian women cross their breasts and whisper silent prayers while watching intently. Waiting. Hoping.
Man has faced this night before. Something is different though. Answers to previous questions will be answered this evening. But when? Soon. Night surrounds the city, engulfing it in its beauty, its mystery. Holding on tightly to the secret and giving away nothing.
The sudden silence is disturbed by a shrill cry. It's a piercing tone that causes hands to cover ears in horror. People stop, dead in their tracks, not knowing what to do or what to expect. Horror, waiting for the horror. What was once seen, is now gone. The hand of the woman in the car returns to its original place, no longer pointing at its prey.
Silence. No wind, no mystery, no hope. The single feeling that something is about to happen penetrates the entire population. They stand and wait. They hope. Silence. No wind, no mystery, no hope this time. That single feeling of fear is gripping the entire population as they stand and wait.
An old man sits on a park bench waiting just like everyone else. He searches the darkened sky for some sign, some hope. Nothing comes his way. A blind woman is wailing that this is the end of the world, her world. Someone curses at her and she turns silent, frozen in terror. Terror in her world.
One man refuses to stand still in the dark. He begins to move and makes his way to the subway station. People stare at him with an unusual sense of awe. They understand his desire for movement, but they don't join him. They watch in silence. They hope.
As he approaches the station, a small boy allows his eyes to meet those of the man. The child smiles as the man walks by. He loosens his hand from his mother's and tries to walk with the man. His heart wants to move, but his feet refuse. He waits and hopes.
Suddenly, the sky begins to change causing everyone to look up except the man walking to the station. Again, a shrill cry can be heard over the city but no one cares much about it. They hear it, they understand it. They wait. They hope.
Within a microsecond the sky turns to a soft blue. Clouds can be seen in the distance. Birds are aloft circling over the city chattering to and fro with each other. The people hear this but they remain silent and fixed. The wait and hope.
Honk, honk. A bus in the distance is heading for the end of the line, looking for the way back to downtown. The bus driver looks lost...empty. As he rounds the corner, he opens the door to his customers and says, "No customers are ever turned away. Hell, we even take credit cards." The little boy hears this and begins to laugh. His laughter breaks the thought-patterns of those around him as they awaken to life.
Yes, city life can be strange at times and people can easily get caught up in the rat-race of others. A small child laughs or scoffs at life and is able to change its perception, its goal, its jaiole. Life, being charged on a credit card, what an interesting concept. Something so simple that even a child can understand it, accept it and yet, challenge it. Thus the cycle continues...again.
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