Today is May 2 and I have no reason to hope for seeing anyone else on this road, a quiet road in the middle of a forest occupied by no one but me.  It has been May 2 for many, many days and weeks.  I walk forward towards an opening that never emerges, only to find myself right back where I started.

No problem.  No other sound except for the slide and creep of my own shoes that echoes across the dark green forest floor.  No voices, and at this point, not even mine, as I have learned after countless days that no one else is here to hear me or respond.  A bird would be nice, even a fox or two.  I think I grew a bit suspicious many days/weeks ago after I noticed the absence of flies and ants, but that was after I noticed the most glaring absence: change in the daylight, as in there is no sunrise or sunset.

It’s almost as if I am standing in the middle of someone’s screen saver, or a picture frame on a desk in some nondescript office.  My own name no longer registers across my brain as I walk towards nothing.

Empty.

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