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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