It was a chilly night,
alone as always,
the flashes of lightning striking
and lighting the room in intervals.
Thinking and drifting at once,
my head dropped forward,
my lids meeting each other.
Almost immediately, I saw myself in a vast town.
I heard it was full of wonders
and rich in history—
both good and bad.
I had come to learn about a man,
and a guide was waiting.
though throughout our journey
I never saw his face—
or perhaps I did not remember it.
I believe he had none.
We began with the early years
of the man I had come to study.
He was unfortunate—
or so he believed himself.
Born into misery,
to an abusive father,
raised beneath an iron rod,
hardened in the name of survival.
You would expect such a man
to move through life with ease.
You would be wrong.
He had it worse.
Always trying to make ends meet,
always in the way,
thwarting his own plans
as though he were cursed.
Luck did not exist for him.
What others gained in one attempt,
took him fifty
just to be noticed.
He was always weighing himself
against society’s standards,
always found wanting,
always short of something.
And with all the chaos of it,
every chapter of his life
ended the same way:
almost.
nearly.
Now I sympathized with the fellow,
and as I looked up
there were insects hovering above me.
Ignoring them, I said, continue.
The guide replied,
There was not much else to tell.
His life became an endless cycle
of suffering, pain, and regret—
some self-inflicted,
most inherited.
But he did reach some heights, he said.
Oh? Enlighten me, I answered.
It does not matter.
By then he was alone,
and though he had always feared time,
he had none left.
In pursuit of happiness,
he lost the meaning of life.
All that remained of him
was divided
and spilled into a world
that did not care.
The insects were unbearable now.
I looked up to shake them loose,
but they were on my skin as well.
It is a mayfly!
I shouted.
How?
I turned to share my discovery
with the guide,
but he was gone.
Where to, I could not tell.
He had been here only a moment ago.
I turned and turned,
but he was nowhere.
Then I realized
the hallway was empty
and dark.
I turned again,
for I saw a glowing light move.
Upon the wall,
a hand was writing:
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN
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