Light Piercing and Pervasive: A Short Story
Josh stood still as he looked down on the terrace below his balcony. It was an ordinary day full of grey clouds in the sky and a sense of sluggish heaviness weighing down his body. He turned back inside and sat down on his chair spotted from stains of the past. Mistakes spilled over the upholstery, half-cleaned remnants of incidents associated with various memory webs in his mind. He was slow in his movements but something deep inside was restless and agitated.
Today he was going to take his friend's little boy out for a bike ride near the water. This was a task he felt dutifully committed to and considered the day a burden on his mediocre existence.
He had already eaten breakfast and was full of animal meat, various sugars and heated fats. He had woken today with an ugly feeling from the night's dreams of chaos and confusion. In his sleep he was presented with fragmented flashes of aggressive and violent creatures merging in with the natural setting of indistinguishable parts representing a claustrophobic backdrop of helpless imprisonment. There were patches of flat colours without borders, invisibly sharing space with each other. But, after his coffee and food he felt the dreams of the night slightly muted by his misty sense of waking presence.
He picked up the kid at half past 10. He did not want to show his disinterest so he put on a dynamic mask of contentment as he happily guided the boy along the route. Freddy, the boy was so excited about the day's excursion that he could not stop giggling, shouting and asking questions. Josh was not prepared for such a situation and was naturally affected by the boy's bright energy. "Which way is east now?" blurted the boy, smiling.
"It's that way." Josh responded, pointing out toward the vastness of the sea and sky.
He delivered the boy back home around noon and was prepared for lunch at his favourite burger shop. Licking his lips, he made his way down the street on his bike dreaming about his upcoming fries and gravy. Upon receiving his order he turned to take his tray to the dining area but as he turned to walk he crashed into a lady and the tray fell lifelessly to the floor resulting in a pathetic mess of scattered poutine, burger parts and a splash-like puddle of cola.
Josh did not bother ordering another set. He was actually not very hungry anyway. He left, slightly irritated by the event and brought this story with him as he walked along the street to the coffee shop down the way. He judged the others walking, watching their movements and clumsiness. "Why were they so automatic and careless in their movements?", he pondered as he looked out from his position as one would look out through a cockpit window. He took notes on his surroundings as he coasted down the street reporting his findings to control. An eery sound began to emerge from a few blocks away. The high pitched humming was accompanied by a slight crack in the clouds. The sunlight, long covered by the dense masses of condensation beamed out through the tiny opening with an absolute determination. With the humming coming to a halt, Josh looked up at the beam of light which was now separated into its colours as if refracted by a crystal. The sight was engaging and Josh could not pull away from the sheer beauty of the fan of hues. Just at the height of his attention, the rainbow streaks suddenly fused back into a single blinding white light, which then increased in intensity until it seemed to turn all things into an invisible white purity. Josh was left frozen in time and space, still aware of his existence but blinded by light. He felt as if he was floating but knew his feet were firmly rooted to the ground. Spherical pulses of energies were emit in waves from his center as he dangled in space. His presence was consumed by this all-pervasive force which he was not separate from. He merged with the essential power and was washed clean of his past. All sounds ended in time. Deaf and blind, Josh was not, but the one and only, the nowness of forever, the limitless fuel of life and awareness, the infinite field of clarity. He awoke, he was seated at the coffee shop overlooking a freshly brewed cup of dark roast, the steam swirling up through the air into his nostrils. He felt the moisture coat his nose hairs as the scent ascended through his system. He looked up and around, seeing others moving gracefully, walking around, sharing space, sitting, chatting, ordering, greeting. The blended motion swirled invisibly together, microscopically entangled in an immensely complex and incomprehensible way. Through the window, Josh could see the cars and people passing by on the road. The speed of the cars sent shivers down his spine, the people were most mysterious. He was not engaged but rather involved completely. The show was being performed, and he was both a spectator and an actor. The stage extended beyond the horizon and the director endlessly called for lights.
©Mike Sasaki 2018
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