One Cold Wintry Night

 

One cold wintery night, Jacob was living in Germany on an old, terraced street. It looked like a line of Second World War multi housing complexes, as far as you could see. Very grey, very uniform and very dark. Street lights missing, one every now and then, casting dark shadows.

In Jacob's head the turmoil of his life was very dark and there were no answers. He would walk the streets at night after work to get to the main town to buy food. As he passed the light on the street, he knew a dark area would be coming. In his head and on the street it was always haunting shadows he could see, like the haunting shadows in his head. Then after many times of doing this, night after night, he would also look over the bridge which he had to cross. Every time he would stop in the middle which was clear from all the trees, just standing there, watching the moon quiver in the ripples as the water passed by. Sometimes there would be rain drops shimmering on the surface then disappearing never to be seen again. It always seemed to rain so this became the norm except when the moonlight was not there.

The sky was empty just like Jacob, he would feel his mind take on the rhythm of the weather, dark, untamed and unexplained. Jacob was softening no one to talk to except the moon when it rippled in the river. He knew the moon would not be there the following day so he didn’t want to see the darkness of the water again, with all the dark thoughts of misery and hurt. This could not go on. The thought he could join the moon, so light, so brilliant that’s all he wanted. He needed that.

He stood there, leaned over and like the rain drops entered the river, he disappeared.

Under the surface his mouth wide filling with water, just a bobble of water coming from his dark, undiscovered body. And the only person there to help him was his reflection, looking at himself and to the darkness lifting, the light coming back. But a calming, loving light, gently disappearing, no more feelings to worry about.

Simon.