Slowly walking up the road,
they pass him by so quickly,
rushing here and there and here and there,
he does not stop,
but slowly moves, ever forward ever onward,
eyes leveled at the ground,
nothing to see,
move along,
all the grey, all is dull.
Left foot down, right foot up,
right foot down, left foot up,
slowly moving ever forward, ever onward.
The noises sound out around him,
nothing jars him,
the blasts, the backfires, the coughs, the whines, the screams and shouts,
always looking at the ground,
slowly moving ever onward.
The grey curls around him,
his eyes are soot and smoke,
he sees not the people he bumps,
or the bugs he squashes underfoot,
he doesn’t see them and doesn’t case,
the grey is in his eyes,
the fog is on his brain,
he cannot see and cannot hear.
Suddenly silver shining scorches his sight,
stopping short, swiftly he blinks,
the blinding, throbbing, silver light,
streams through his eyes and his mind,
focus, focus, focus down,
something small smiles sweetly up at him,
noise crowds his ears,
Move! Move! Move! Don’t stop!
Silently, swiftly, strongly he picks her up.
He goes, without thought, without looking back,
a child, he is carrying a child.
How did she get in my hands, he wonders.
Why does she blind my eyes, he wonders.
Why does she smile so bright, he wonders.
He moves along.
No one says a word to him or her.
“Who are you?”, he says.
“Crystal”, she said.
He blinked. He didn’t know what else to say.
Looking left. Looking right.
Always moving forward.
No one seems to see. No one seems to notice.
Why does no one else see? He wonders.
“Crystal”, he says,
“Why do you shine?”
“Because I do.”, she said.
He blinked.
Looking left. Looking right.
No one sees her? he wonders
He thinks. He turns right. He turns left.
He looks around him.
Another man leads a child by the hand.
Setting her down, “Hold my hand and walk with me.”
“Where are your parents?” he asked.
“Parents?” she said.
“Yes, your mother and father.”
“I have none,” she stopped smiling.
“I….” stammering.
Looking forward. Not long now.
“Where should I take her?” he asked aloud.
“Home,” she said.
“Home.” he said.
He set off.
Right, then left, then right again.
Always shifting his eyes, right and left.
No one sees us, he thinks.
No one saw us? he thinks.
That can’t be right.
Someone is always watching.
“Someone is always watching.”
“No they’re not.” she said.
“Oh?” he asked.
“They can’t see me.” she said.
“Oh?” he asked.
“Only you can see me, your eyes are open, that is why we picked you.” she said.
“We?”
“Yes.”
He opens the door and steps in side.
He closes the door and turns to look at her.
“We are home.” he says.
“Not yet.” she says.
“Oh?”
“Yes, we are not home yet.”
“Where is home?”
“A long way away.”
“Hmmmmmmm.” He said while pondering.
She waits…waits…waits.
“Well come on silly.” she says.
“Huh?” he says, stirred from his mental slumber.
“Get packing, we have a long way to go?”
“Packing? For what?”
“To go, we have to go, soon now too.”
“Go where?”
“Anywhere…Now!” she said.
The door broke open.
Two men stood there.
Glazed mirrors over their eyes.
Fire behind them. Fire and smoke.
She grabbed his arm.
They crashed out the window.
Someone did see us, he thought.
The glass stung his face, and hands, and arms.
He crashed into the ground.
Rolling, rolling, slam!
He looked up.
She stood there, above him looking down.
Why does she shine like that, he thought.
“Get up, now.” she said.
Something in her voice was different now.
He couldn’t help to stand up.
And run.
His legs began to scream at him.
His body had dulled with time.
She pulled him along.
He could not help but to keep up.
Noises behind him.
He looks back.
Men. Dark men in dark coats.
Pointing, shouting, and running at him.
“Stop where you are!”
“Hold you place, sir!”
“Come on, keep up the pace” she says,
Looking back and smiling at him.
He can’t smile back, he has to breathe.
They turn a corner, the shouts die behind them.
Despite that, they keep running.
They stop suddenly.
He trips, stumbles, falls.
She pulls him into a drain.
The bars are bent aside.
He blinks and looks at her.
She smiles while bending the bars back.
“Come on.” she says.
She takes his hand and they walk away from the grate.
They hear shouts and footfalls echo into the sewer.
They slosh along.
The light dims.
He shivers.
She leads the way.
Dark, dank, cold, and wet.
He shivers again.
Where are we going? he thinks.
They trudge forward.
“Where are we going?” he says.
“Outside the city” she says, smiling back at him.
Outside the city? he thinks.
He stops.
I’ve never been outside. he thinks.
“I…we…can’t go outside.” he says.
“It’s not safe inside anymore.” she says.
“It’s not safe inside anymore?” he asks.
She stops, turns, and looks at him.
“It wasn’t safe to begin with Stan” she says.
“You’ve been living in a dream.”
“When we go outside, you might wake up.”
“I might wake up?” he asks.
“Or you might die. Now come on.”
She turns back, holding his hand, and drags him along.
I might die…
I might die…
Why might I die…
“Why might I die?” he asks.
“Shhhhhhh, quiet now.” she says.
I don’t want to die.
I don’t think I’m asleep.
Am I?
To sleep, to dream.
Of nothing more,
than day in day out,
eyes at the ground,
feet on the ground,
shuffling, sitting, moving,
where to?
where was I going?
What was I doing?
What am I doing now?
Following some little girl?
Through a sewer?
Some shining little girl,
who can bend bars,
break windows,
and throw me around like a rag doll.
Some little girl huh?
Maybe I am asleep.
But then, when was I awake.
“You’ve never been awake.” she says.
“I’ve never been awake?” he asks.
“Nope, not ever. Poor city people.
Never been awake ever.” she says.
“Here, we’re at the end.”
A large metal grate stands in front of them.
The “water” rushes by their feet,
out the grate,
and down,
down,
down,
the crash can be heard softly below.
She bends the bars aside.
“Come on, time to jump.” she says.
He hesitates.
She gently pulls against him.
He looks at her.
She smiles at him.
Why not, he thinks.
He steps forward.
And plunges down.
