“Don’t walk home alone, little one, there are monsters that lurk behind every corner.” My mother always used to tell me as she kissed me goodbye. “Don’t walk alone, call or text a friend, beware monsters that wait to snatch young folks away.” My dad would tell me the day I drove off to college. “Don’t walk home alone. I’ll be there to keep you from the shadows that creep.” My love told me the day we said I do. “Don’t walk alone, my child. I will walk beside you all my days.” I told my children each time I held them for the first time. “Don’t walk alone. Though the road may be scary, I will light the way. The monsters that follow cannot enter the safety of my home.” I hear from somewhere beyond as I close my eyes for the last time.
The space between stars, or as I call it, the what if. You’d think it would be empty, void and cold, full of nothingness. At least that’s what we’re told to assume. But truth is does anyone really know what lies between? What if it’s empty nothingness? What if it’s planets teeming with alien life? What if it’s black holes, meteors, or space junk? It’s a place of infinite possibilities. A place full of hopes, dream, and ambitions. A place filled with dread, darkness and our greatest fears. It’s the space between who we currently are, who we want to be, and who we eventually will become. It might appear empty, but that’s the beauty of it. No matter where in life you are that space will always be there, ever growing and evolving. It’s the what ifs of your imagination that fill that space.
It begins like a song. Soft pale colours like single notes on a piano echoing across the wide expanse of darkness. And then a burst of colours, the melody explodes. Bass, treble, sharp and flats higher and higher, layer upon layer twisting and twirling for their audience of stars. The harmony of pinks and blues, purples and greens, ebb and flow, rise and drop like an orchestra whose director is the night sky. Within seconds, they have reached their crescendo and as suddenly as it began the tempo falls, complex chords becoming single notes once more, as the vibrant colours melt back to the muted hues of yellow. Tapering off completely, the darkness envelopes the world once more as the stars blink with their applause. But even as the sky rests, exhausted from it’s heavenly performance, the song though finished, lingers on, a love ballard between earth and sky, entrancing all who are fortunate to bear witness to its ethereal chorus.
Have you ever wondered where socks go? How you can put two away and only find one a while later? I have this vague memory from my childhood of someone telling me of a monster. A monster that steals socks. I know there was more too it but I can’t remember now. I’m not even sure if the memory was real or just a childhood fantasy. Either way I don’t believe in monsters. At least not the ones described in stories to warn children not to wander too far from home, or to explain the unexplainable. Of course the real monsters that I know live inside of our minds. But those monsters twist words and latch onto the dark thoughts we have, they don’t steal socks. But I digress. The monster that has been lurking in my mind is this memory that I cannot remember. Something about socks, monster under beds, and souls? Was that it? I think so. I pull my shoes from under my bed and slip one on. My foot goes through. I don’t remember there being a hole in these. It clicks suddenly. The monsters under the bed steal socks, but sometimes steal soles. What a pointless monster. Who steals soles? I drop to my knees and peer under the bed. I blink. The darkness blinks back.
“That was the worst assassination attempt ever dude.” “I wasn’t actually trying to kill you!” “You seasoned the meat with baking soda!” “Well sorry for trying to do something nice for you!” “How is poisoning me with baking soda being nice?!” “I didn’t know! The recipe said to add some!” “Yeah, some! Not a cup! You know what? I appreciate the sentiment but how about we leave the cooking to me, yeah?” “Fine.” “I really do appreciate you.” “I know.” “I love you.” “I love you too.” “Even if you did try to kill me.” “Hey!”
This job was supposed to be easy dammit. Get in, get the money, get out. So how’d he end up hanging off of the roof top of a 13 story building you might ask? That’s a good fucking question that he didn’t know the answer to. All he knew was he was going to kill his boss, that son of a bitch. He grunted, struggling to pull himself back up over the edge but the duffle bag he had slung across his shoulder was weighing him down. Well fuck. He knew this life would kill him one day but he’d always assumed it would be in the heat of a gun fight or getting jumped in an alley, not falling off a building because he got distracted by the cop chasing him. Which, where was he- oh. The officer suddenly appeared looking down at him with a raised eyebrow before bending down and extending a hand. “Take my hand.” “What? No!” The officer rolled his eyes. “Look dude, I’m not asking you to marry me, I’m literally trying to save your life. Unless you want to plummet to your death?” The officer shrugged and he sighed grabbing the outstretched hand. It took both of them a significant amount of effort to get him back onto the roof and they both lay panting on the concrete for a moment. After he had collected himself enough he stood back up and hoisted his bag back up onto his shoulder, making his way to the door off the roof. He paused hand on the door handle and smiled. “Thanks for the save.” His grin sharpened as he flashed his hand at the cop only just getting to his feet. “And for the record, you already asked me to marry you.”
A million little shards, each reflecting and shimmering in the afternoon sun. Like a thousand little diamonds, he reached a trembling hand to touch one. It was so quiet, peaceful, not a cloud in the sky and yet. A breeze ruffled his hair, the flowers on the hill, the trees. He held the broken piece of glass admiring the beauty of the light radiating from it for moment. A car drove by shattering the silence and he startled, hurling the glass into the ditch as a sob ripped its way from his chest. One lone cross, one lone man, a thousand glittering pieces of a life scattered across a vast expanse of pavement.
