Once upon a midnigth dreary....

It is almost midnight and I am walking across shadows in the street. Not a living soul can be seen. Everyone is safe within their home, secure in the knowledge that their sons and daughters are sleeping in their beds and that they are safe within their locked doors. A complete silence marks my passing and I feel like a ghost, ethereal and without substance, yet I can still feel the cold of the night in my unprotected skin. I keep walking until finally I reach the entrance of an unnamed park. No light posts exist and as a result the park is covered in total darkness. During the day the park is bristling with activity from children playing and laughing. However, at night the park is blanketed in complete and utter darkness. The same people who came during the day now avoid the park as if it was creature of evil that may hide unspeakable horrors within. Like a wolf’s maw that would bite any innocent soul that crosses its path during the night, it is avoided by all during the nighttime hours.

I however walk within its outer limits. The deeper I go the darker it becomes and as a result, my mind begins to compensate for the lack of visual information. Trees that during the day are lush with vegetation now look menacingly upon me as the intruder that I was. I can hear things move yet I cannot see them. At some point I reach the center of the park. On it I find a small bench made of stone enough for me to lay flat on it and look at the sky. I am surrounded by darkness and it’s a little bit frightening. I, however and perhaps against common sense close my eyes.

And wait. And wait.

Slowly, I open my eyes and see a beauty that I could not have seen from the safety of my house or during my walk to reach the park. I see the night sky in all its glory, with stars twinkling messages to each other, planets shining defiantly and from time to time… a falling star. I feel at peace and for the moment being my troubles seem to vanish.

By: EHM