Take a Hike

We used to go hiking on the weekend. High in the sky, we were. Laughing and breathing. Tripping and skipping. Huffing and Puffing. You and me. The breeze carried the worry away. Took it to a place where its grip could no longer reach us. We were free from the arguments, the shouting, the hitting, the uncomfortable silence. The slow transcendence back to ground level was always the worst. There it stood by the car door, waiting for us. "you escaped my grip, but not for long" Darkness returned, hiking was over.





I thought loved lasted forever but I thought wrong. Love once so sweet, now so sour. Broken promises, regrets, separation. That was all you two could think of. Now you have nothing nice to say, nor do you. Gone are those happy days, days we seemed like a normal family, days where I was just a child and you two were the adults. Days where the darkness of life never concerned me. Go on. Live your lives. Be happy. Be separate.





As if life weren't hard enough already, you had to quit your job. The doctor said something was wrong with your brain. You could no longer function like "normal" people. Life would be different now. Slower, simpler, boring. It was out of your control, no one can control the darkness of life. You must live with it. Coexist with the enemy. Act as if things will get better even when they get worse. Whatever.





For the third time you decided to make the promise. Love till death do you part. Right. I give it a few years. Oh wait, I was wrong. 2 kids later you're still with her. I guess the third time really is a charm. I still don't have that car you promised me but with two new children to support I guess that would no longer concern you. You may not see it now, darkness has a way of deceiving you. Like most pregnancies, when you least it expect it, it will come.





Darkness has arrived, in the form of a bad economy. At least you are not alone. Have comfort in knowing many others cannot pay their bills like you, have debt like you, worry like you. I wish I could say there are happier times in the future. But for you, an old man with a new wife and two young kids, I am not so sure. Perhaps you should go hiking.