Good night, All

TIME TO GO

 

I am unaware it is 3:30 in the morning. It's always dark in here. There are strange sounds and tappings, not much for me to do but sleep and kick when I can. Once in a while I manage enough strength and start to punch my way out of this dungeon. Water is all around me. Maybe I can swim out. Twice I have tried it and got no place. There is some kind of door that has locked me in, just won't let me go. Then without warning, it opens and it is time for me to escape, to go.

 

Hands grab me, pull me out of the water. My eyes open a tiny bit. All I see is a glaring brightness. I am borne away to a strange place with odd pings, clanks. They are forbidding but better than the water. My mouth opens. Something warm and sweet comes in. I like it. Lips touch my head, make a sucking sound, send shivers up my back. Wherever I am, it never gets dark. 'Please, Mr. Magic Man, let me stay here forever.'

 

He lets me stay a very long time, smooths me, soothes me, touches my nose, covers me with soft things until, with no pushing, no kicking, I am moved. Strange things come out of me. I kick and hear laughter, feel touchy, touchy fingers. My wet body is dry, my eyes close for a long time. When I open them, it is dark, but not as dark as before. This darkness is far away, slowly changes to light. My mouth turns up and I make out words, 'He's smiling.' It is time for me to go, be in a new place.

 

So, here I am, using my feet to walk, to run instead of kick. The warm milk has stopped coming from the pink cup. Both were good. My Mommie loves me, kisses me, takes me to school, feeds me good things to make me grow and be happy. She bakes a big chocolate cake for me, puts ten white candles on it, lights them and I have to blow all out in one breath. I am only nine but Mommie tells me one candle is to grow on. All ten go out at once.

 

Books fill my room. Words mean so much to me. They consume me. I think, I write about everything, flowers, people, love, airplanes, the sun, the moon, the world. Mom and Dad give me a watch that has a silver colored expandable band. I learned to tell time when I was much younger than I am now. My watch runs on a battery and I don't have to wind it. The clocks in our house are digital, always right. My computer, Mom's microwave, electric range seem magical. A touch, a click, and everything works. I'm lucky. It's easy being me. My luck pales. Neither my mind nor my wallet can keep up with progress, new life styles, wars, destruction,  science, archeology, the past, present and future.

 

It is 3:30 in the morning, still dark. There are humming sounds, click, clicking sounds. White shadows come and go. Hands holding metal things touch me, feel my wrists. Whisperings are too low for me to understand. Morning comes slowly. My wife is asleep on a hard leather chair near my bed. She jumps up when I try to turn over, bends over me, kisses my head, holds my hand. I smile as best I can. A loud beep rings out, becomes a steady wail. The love of my life stands, holds my hand between her two cold ones. I can barely make out the tears rolling down her face. The beeping stops,

 

It is time at last for me to go. I GO.