Suddenly the time caught up with him and his only option was a long walk home. Leaving the safety of the apartment and thrown into the encompassing night did little to quell the inebriated state Elliott was in. Far worse was the fact that given the state of his cohorts, all in far deeper than himself, Elliott was forced to make the trek on his own. Slowly the steps came and as he left the apartment complex and began to walk Montezuma the cars that passed by served as his guide; illuminating, if only for brief fleeting moments, his path home and providing him his only companionship. The road was familiar, even given his current condition and the faint glow of broken streetlights that made seeing the road ahead a challenge. But the steps soon blurred and Elliott was able to take in the darkness and his surroundings.
As he passed by a school encompassed in darkness, Elliott wondered what it would be like to be back in elementary school. Times were simpler then, there was no doubt or worry when it came to things like grades, his future and girls; only life, only simple games and boyhood fantasy. Just as he could smell the fresh cut grass beneath his feet and hear the sounds of schoolyard scuffles, the darkness crept back around the school bringing him back to the task at hand. Slowly again his feet begin to move one after another only now his steps don’t carry as much weight, there is no urgency in them.
Across the street he sees two other travelers walking the same sidewalks only to a different destination. The faint outlines become clearer as they get closer to Elliott and the way they look holding hands, fighting off the darknesswith their own light makes him cringe. It is not as though relationships are a foreign thing to him; the game of love is one he played on many occasions, often time well but never well enough, he was still forced to imagine the light that love can bring. Those thoughts quickly bring him to her, the one he should be sharing this drunken walk with, the one who kissed his lips and took his breath away when it suited her. Tearing his mind away from the image of that angel, his half opened eyes look upon a vacant lot, overgrown and fenced off with graffiti and empty beer bottles its only inhabitants. His heart felt like that vacant lot, there were barricades, fences and razor wire keeping out all who dared to enter. Inside the walls there was emptiness, nothing permanent nothing lasting, only memories and relics serving as reminders of times when it was full. He wanted to stare at that vacant lot for the rest of the night, hoping that maybe something would appear, something real with a story and a history, however he didn’t want to be mistaken for a loiterer so he slowly turned his head and began walking.
Almost there, almost to the safety of his bed, where the warmth would slowly bring him to unconsciousness and he could put the night behind him; knowing that in the morning he wouldn’t remember the long cold walk by himself, but the walk to the apartment and the nights debaucheries. Elliott had her then; they walked slowly, letting the group get in front of them and relied on each other for support and sure steps. She slipped her hand in his and smiled, they walked slower and slower, time didn’t matter anymore and all at once he felt the warmth and light of someone connected with him. But that was earlier and as the Aztec corner apartments come into view, he smiles knowing he’ll only remember that simple moment.
With a turn of a key the night and the walk vanish; time for sleep and the satisfaction of a new morning.
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