Enjoy the Silence

Children often cope with trauma through their play. It may, for instance, provide a controlled and non-threatening way of delving into the dark desires of a recovering victim. The following story is one of many self-indulging fantasies I utilized. 

(Play music clip by Depeche Mode)

Absence, An Origin Story

A being existed in emptiness. Alone. Drifting weightlessly. He did not know he was a human being, nor comprehend what a label entailed. Never seeing or understanding his body, its parts, their purposes and capabilities. His senses were useless. He would not know to move because he had never seen his limbs, nor had he the resistance of ground to press against. He didn’t know to cry for attention because he was unaware another being might exist to answer. He did not acknowledge need.

Building a Mystery

(Play song by Sarah McLachlan)

I always figured my wife was crazy. As a young man, I was cautioned about the wiles of a woman, their tendencies to gossip and play tricks. When she and I first started dating she’d over analyze some small, seemingly unimportant thing, like something I said in passing. She searches for meaning in the slightest shift of my eyes, the subconscious expressions of my face, the barely audible changes in my tone of voice. One look of mine can somehow be interpreted in a variety of ways.