Earthquakes no longer feel so foreign to my body Cast to the side once again Like an old toy or a forgotten favourite hobby Was a friend but now a pain
Back when our bond could beat all odds The comic and the muscle Unlikely duo who were two peas in a pod Torn apart in a tussle
Our paths drifted off down two different directions You treaded along with fake friends Mine was a tedious circular trip facing repeated lessons Maybe one day I’ll leave my dead end
Darkness could shroud and distort the most vibrant of colours and obscure the busy life’s of a packed city. A dark cloud hovered over my head, drenching me with every negative splash of rain, as I moved quickly to get to a place of shelter, out of the rain that made my clothes heavy like the burden I carried everyday, my eyes adjusted as it seemed I had lost my way. These streets had been around since I was a boy, I use to play up by those block of flats back when the only room was a hazardous block of wood barely attached to a tree- those were all cut down, along with the blissful joy of youth.
I hadn’t been out for a long time, everything seemed more dehumanised than when I was last in these streets. Living as a hermit for 2 decades I’d expected change, not an overhaul that rendered my memories useless in my mind, the landscapes I remembered were reshaped and not at all to my taste. I bitterly scoff at all the fancy technological advanced shops that now littered my walk home, as I remember a humble pet store that stood where this obscene virtual land danced on it’s grave. The mind correlated change with the negative emotions that had been festering for over half a life time. Finally I reached my hide away, the safe space from the horrors of the outside world, only to be trapped within a prison of my own making. The festering continued as I idly sat in the uncomfortable leather brown chair the colour of which only added to the dull greys of the walls and the plain old shabby installed flooring, only to remind me how shallow my life really was.
I arched towards the patch I held in my hands, I put this on and joy would suddenly return to my life- you could actually buy emotions now. I contemplated the option to place the blasted thing on my forearm, I’d grown so accustomed to this mental state that it felt like cheating to just plaster my wounds as if the trauma never happened. I glance to my right and notice the picture from long ago when I was truly happy by my own accord- a beautiful wife by my side and a new born baby cradled in her arms. I wanted to smile but all those joyful memories were just squashed. The playful image of my daughter laughing that should have filled my soul with relief was brought to a screeching halt. Now all I can see is the lifeless body amidst a car crash-
I made the decision to put on the patch as the memories flashed vividly in my minds eye, driving me into a panic that only ceased it’s impending barrage of pain once the plaster was firmly gripped to my forearm. I felt calm. Just as I hoped, I could think beyond the negatives- beyond pain and suffering. I remembered that change wasn’t bad, no longer caring for the hatred I had towards the world. My daughter- I forget why I never thought of it before, I could see her again. A version of her at least- that virtual reality world could give me anything I ever wanted. I began to see the bright sides of a corporate entity claiming my soul to regain my family, my life. For once in my life I was happy. Somewhere deep down though, I knew this was just a short fix. I hadn’t solved anything, all I had done was taken a short cut to fulfilment.
Greetings and thanks for coming all Since last together many years have past Correct me if I’m wrong but I’ve counted three falls That’s three years since Daniel passed
Every spring since has been nothing but grief The sole of the band at most, and the best of us at least He knew how to reign us in when we lost our temper with each other He was in a way our protective big brother Though he could bitch like a mother He did it with love and kindness like no other
So let us rejoice in his memory While he’s gone it may seem a test But to always smile and be happy And remember the best
“I’ve never seen that house before…” one young lad marvelled as he came out from the under pass, keeping a reasonable distance to his half switched into reality friend, who was coughing up a forest fire worth of smoke from blackened lungs, looking hard pressed to what his respectable buddy was yammering on about.
“What house?” He asked, not even bothering to look where his friend’s gaze was fixated, which would simply be lifting his head to see the not so common sight of a house balancing on the edge of a cliff. A gust of wind looked as though it would leave serious renovations to be made, unless the sight of splintered wood and smashed glass windows could considered a home improvement- well if you’ve only ever known a broken home. “Oh…” Smokey was now on the same page as the faithful observer, who always pointed out whenever Smokey was about to make a wrong turn when being too tuned out of his own reality- essentially a glorified gps that also provided a decent amount of company. “That house.”
“Yeah” the observer nodded as if there where more than one house to spot in such a predicament. “Say, how’d you even balance a house like that?” The observer asked, brimming with curiosity.
“Maybe there was an imbalance when paying their bills” Smokey offered up no real answers, conjuncture to the avid interest in the observers questioning.
“You’re a comedy genius” the lashing of sarcasm did not go amidst, Smokey may have been absent minded on the best of days but he was rather sharp to the tones of others, therefore he clapped back with a comment of his own.
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist Chris Columbus- let’s go and investigate your new frontier” Smokey gave a firm slap to the observers back nudging the other boy forward from the impact as he laughed and began walking in the direction he believed the path to the house to be.
Scoffing behind Smokey as he merely trudged along dejectedly and going red for even bringing up the stupid house. “It’s not like it’s a normal sight”
“Probably just an obdaticle illusion” Smokey replied with the upmost confidence.
“Optical” the observer corrected his friend
“What did I say?” Smokey asked with a raised brow
“Something stupid” an educated observation which earned him a grade A middle finger for his findings.
“Well smart ass, what do you think landed the home owners on the edge of a crashing mortgage?” Smokey threw the question back to the unsuspecting friend of his- now frantically running their neck as they search for an answer of their own. “Well?”
With little time to think “aliens!” He blurted out, gestured grand and wide and only succeeded in reaching out to the awkward silence brewing from his theory. Smokey was still before berating the observer with a hysterical laugh.
“And I’m the stoned one? Aliens? That’s like tin foil hat garbage!” Smokey blew smoke at the observer.
“Nuh uh. What about all those weird lights in the sky over the weekend-“
“I don’t remember any weird lights” Smokey wasn’t buying the reasoning
“That’s cause you never open your blinds” the observer pointed out the obstacle in Smokey’s field of view
“How else am I meant to keep the police from peaking in?” He asked as if it was a pressing matter.
As the two bickered all the way up, the observer was once again laying out his findings to back up his earlier, seemingly nonsensical statement about aliens. “All I’m saying is, weird lights, then there was the farmer who swears down his farm animals were abducted by little green men”
“Or maybe he just left the gate open like an idiot and they escaped?” Scepticism was the road block of a theorist, halting the momentum that was building from one party by simply applying more common knowledge to force the driver peddling the conspiracy to slam on their breaks to make an emergency stop back to reality. “Besides, that doesn’t explain why aliens would be interested in playing sea saw with a house”
“Maybe their goals are beyond our understanding?” The observer posed, already regretting opening their mouth in the first place.
The two came to the top of the hill, however there was no house in sight. “What?! No house? But we saw it-“
“Told you. An absolute illusion” Smokey shook his head and took another long draw from the burning bush that he put to his lips.
“There’s no optical illusion that manifests as a house on a cliff”
“Maybe we’re crazy?” Smokey proposed much to the observers horror.
“Don’t say that!”
“Come on lad, I’m only joking. We must have just hit a bad one on the rotation”
“But I haven’t touched that thing…” the observer pointed out
“Well I smoke enough for the both of us” Smokey led the way back down as he continued to be rather witty about it all “can’t believe you thought aliens would move a house to a cliff”
“Can you like just forget I said anything?”
As the two walked back down the steep green hill, back to civilisation, a gust of wind carried a small wrapper through the breeze, back up over the hill. An insignificant breeze of wind was picking up, the litter’s journey halted by an invisible wall. The wind picked up ever slightly more and began to whistle. Then after a creak or two, a louder whistle, harsh and fiercely cutting through the peaceful silence of nature and then a loud crash. “I told you we should have aimed it to the right a bit”
The end?
