Look Up

It is a fear that faces you for the future. You stand alone on the black highway, peering before you into the inky darkness, hoping to see something that will indicate a potential nearby life. It is deserted. You have no where to run and no warmth to return to. You are the unfortunate.

While washing your hair earlier that day, you could think of nothing but the smell of the grapefruit soap you were using to wash away your grime. You stood under the torrent of water, whisking the bubbles from your arms and toes finally feeling clean, showing no indication that there was anything mucky in the first place. You reach for the knob and slowly turn it, feeling the water ease from steamy to frigid as your skin started to bump. You stepped out of the space and reached for the towel, solidifying the fresher feel you were allowed. You dragged a comb through your tangles, pulling at the knots until the broke free, all the while the pretty smell of clean hair drifted across the humid room.

But not now. You squint at the pavement beneath your feet, speckles of rocks jutting horizontally into one another. Your hair is no longer warm and wet: it is now frozen into limp waves that cling to your sweater in complicated places, disallowing you to move freely.

It is a confusing misunderstanding as to how things can change so drastically. One minute you are basking in the mindlessness of luxury, inhaling the sweet perfumes of richness that surrounds you and the next you are standing out in the cold with no one or thing to offer you hope.

But there. Off in the distance. Something moving towards you; it is a place less dark than the surrounding blackness that seems to engulf you, threatening to never spit you back out. You struggle to cling to the belief that there is beauty in the pain and relief come the morning; the issue here however, is waiting for the morning.

The less-black space moves closer and closer, eliminating the gap that separates you with every passing moment. It draws nearer and you can distinguish a rough outline through the misery.

It is in the form of a man.

“In the desert, I was kind to those who escaped death. I gave them peace, and when the time is right, I’ll do the same for you.”**

Looking up, you see the man is smiling and waves.

Just have patience.

~~

** Jeremiah 31:2, Contemporary English Version