Signs

1

"I thought of you the other day, how worlds of change led us astray"2

He walked crying in the rain, the sidewalk as gray as the skies above him. Lost in thought the boy glanced around him, water streaming from his face, washing the tears. Dark shapes floated by, trees faded with the gray of the rain into the background. Half coloured shapes loomed from the twilight, his eyes lingered on them before turning away. A sign at a crossroad caught his eyes, it said 'Stop'. 3

"Colors seem to fade to gray, in the wake of yesterday"4

Stop, yes. That is what I should do, he thought. Why go on with this road when all it does is lead back to her, and away again. The boy continued walking, rivulets of water streaming in front of him, obscuring the soaked road. Far in the distance he could barely make out a lamp pole, obscured with the trees that cried with him. As he neared, the sign on the lamp pole caught his eyes, it said 'Blacklisted unfairly?' 5

"You looked into my eyes, you had me hypnotized, and I can still remember you"6

What a joke he thought, unfair is the name of my life. To be so close to her for so long, and to be ripped away by the cruelties of fate. His mind wanders back to the days of sunshine. In his thoughts he could still see her there, standing, smiling at him. The love for her mingled with the pain and he sobbed loudly. Through the shimmering veil of his heartbroken tears and the unending downpour he walks past a fence, the name board proudly proclaiming it as a 'Starlight Fence'. 7

"I had a dream of you and I, a thousand stars lit up the sky"8

His memory went back to that night that they both walked this way, and the fireworks that illuminated the skies. It felt like a thousand years ago now. Where they have talked about everything, and nothing. Enjoying each other's company. They both had stood here kissing, lost for a moment to the world. Carefully he continued walking, almost ignoring the other sign that swam into view, it said 'Love Life'. 9

"I touched your hand and you were gone, but memories of you live on"10

We loved life, but now I wish I didn't. Not then, not ever. How can this happen, what makes it so right to separate those who want to be together. The unfairness of life. The boy continues walking, his clothes wet, but he isn't in the rain. He is lost in his own world, where he feels the pain and power of love for that which has been taken from him by the cruelties of life. And he wonders, how can anyone love life, when all it does is cause this unfairness to exist. Another sign floated into view, and for a moment he stopped, staring into it, through it, as it said 'Remember Remember, the 1st of December, party at the Square' 11

"Those moments spent together, promising forever, and I can still remember you"12

His mind drifted back to that day now long lost in history. He remembers how they danced. He could hardly dance, and the jokes that ensued because of it. He knew that someday he would be able to do justice to her beauty and dance properly, but then it was fun, and so the memories went. Each day a new joy, and now remembering them, a new stab in his heart. He feels he can't continue on this road, not when it leads back to the loneliness that he is destined to endure again. Not when he was so close, and now so far. With a sob the boy falls on his knees, head held down as he cries. His tears mingle with the streaming water, their splashes on the pavement drawing his eyes. In the cement, someone had drawn a heart, but years of feet had faded it to a barely recognisable impression. Memory of who had done it long since forgotten, but for that moment the boy felt empathy for whoever it was. He knew then that the unknown person had also lost something and this was his attempt at trying to remember. Gently the boy traces the faded heart, hoping, wishing, that his love would never fade. 13

"Do you ever think of me, and get lost in the memory. When you do, I hope you smile, and hold that memory a while"14

Slowly the boy stands up, his eyes lingering on the remaining traces of somebody else's pain. He lifts his eyes up to the sky, and notices that the rain had stopped. With the back of his hand he wipes away the rain and tears from his eyes, glancing around him. At first he doesn't know where he is, but then he recognises the road he is on. And he realises then, if he turned left here he would become another faded sign out in the rain, devoid of life and meaning. Empty of everything that was important to him, away from her forever. A sign in front of him brought a hoping smile to him, and still smiling he followed the instructions, turning right, back to her.15