Lonely in the Moonlight

Jordan had just gotten in another skirmish with his friend. He was tired, tired of fighting. Frankly, he didn't care if they never made up. Jordan was blasting music in his ears as he walked to Grand Hill. He enjoyed spending his time at that hill, but tonight he was so mad and depressed and confused, there was no room for enjoyment. He needed some time to think...there is just no time these days...to sit and think. Life nowadays is Work! Work! Work! Move! Move! Move! No time for rest. Nobody thinks, they're just these mindless machines that don't have time to take their families out to a movie or just sit and veg on a Sunday morning. No. No time.

Jordan finally figured out how to make time though. After he quickly ate his dinner, he slipped out. He hoped his parents wouldn't mind.

He finally made it up the hill and sat down at the very top. The grass was very dark green; it was only slightly moist from the heavy rains the day before. The moon was shining brightly in the sky, accompanied by thousands of twinkling stars. It was angelic. It was as if God had made this scene for Jordan to make him feel better. A cool breeze blew through his thick brown hair and headed east.

"Jordan..." A voice whispered deep inside Jordan’s head.

Jordan just sat there. He didn't want to interact with anybody, even if it was a small voice cooped up inside his head.

"Jordan, please don't ignore me. I want to talk to you..."

He just sat there ignoring the little voice. The voice didn't come back. He just sat there on that hill for an amount of time of which he was unsure. All of Jordan’s friends are really time-needy. To the point where they would have a panic attack if they lost track of time. People are so tied to time. They have to have a watch that they have to check every thirty seconds. Nobody just takes their watch off and goes on an outing. No one will step out for the mail without knowing the time.

"Why can't my friend and I get along?" Jordan began talking to himself. He tends to do so when he is stressed about something. Some things, rather. He's never stressed over one thing; it's always multiple things. Who ísn't stressed over more than one problem in their life?

"Because you are different people..." The little voice replied.

"Who are you?" Jordan asked.

"I am you. I am your conscience. Finally found the time to listen to me, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess..."

"You know, since I've always been here, I have listened to every little problem you've had. I'm a good listener." The voice explained.

"Hmm." Jordan sighed.

"People have their differences, and some people cannot get over them, which is sad. Very sad. You and your friend would get along perfectly if you were the same in every way, but even that would fail in some way, because the world is not perfect like that, and it will never be perfect, because Man lives here. God created man to add to his wonderous creation, and at first, it was grand, but when Adam and Eve ate from the tree, Man became corrupt, and will never become perfect again."

"Yeah, but, I just want to stop the fighting." Jordan said. "We fight quite a bit. When we don't fight, it's because I haven't told him how I really felt. When I do, he just can't accept it. I wish he would so we could be friends again..."

"I told you; life is not perfect. You will always run into people who won't accept your feelings. You are right to express your innermost feelings though. So, without trying to upset him, keep at it. He may learn to accept them; he may not. If not, then your friendship will begin to die, but at least you can say you tried."

Jordan sighed, and leaned back to look at the wondrous moon. It was so bright, illuminating everything on the hill, and still casting a decent light down on the town as well. The stars still hung in place, except for one star that met its time. It began to fall from the sky. It hurdled through cloud after cloud, burning up as it got closer and closer. It had burned up completely by the time it got to the ground.

"You see, like that star, humans, and all other life will cease to exist. Life is very short and you need to make the most of it. You won't always be around to be with your friends, or spend time with your families, or to learn. You will continue to learn even after you step out of the school building. But you know all of this." The voice said.

"Yeah, I do, but I sometimes lose sight of that, and take life for granted."

"Right."

Jordan was very drowsy by now. His eyelids were fifty pounds each. He decided to let himself drift off into what was a rather deep sleep, despite the fact that he isn't supposed to be out after nine. It was almost nine when he fell asleep.

His cell phone rang and woke him up. It was his mom.

"Jordan! You know when you're supposed to be home! It's almost ten o'clock! Get home right now! We'll discuss your punishment when you arrive!"

Jordan didn't really get the chance to speak in his defense. He walked down the hill, and walked through the streets of New Jersey. In the shadows, Jordan could make out a person walking toward him. It was Aaron.

"Hey, Aaron..." Jordan said reluctantly.

Aaron's face tightened up in an angry scowl. "I freaking hate you!" He reached back and punched Jordan in the nose then he walked past him and turned around. "Don't ever talk to me again! I don't want to be friends with you!" He stormed down the dark street.

Jordan was bleeding profusely from his nose. He lifted his shirt to slow the blood, and walked the rest of the way home with a rather foul attitude.

He stepped through the door that separated him from his parents' grip. "Jordan!" Mom yelled right in front of his face. "You are in big trouble!"

Jordan's dad moved from behind his raving wife, nudged my shoulder, and in a calm and quiet voice, said, "Jordan. Jordan. Jordan, wake up, dude..."

Jordan opened his eyes, and saw a blurry Aaron hovering over him. He sat up quickly and touched his hand to his nose and felt no blood. "Do you know how long I was asleep?" Jordan asked forgetting his anger with Aaron, and the dream for a moment.

"No," he replied. "I came up here because...I wanted to talk to you..."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Aaron said. "About tonight; I was just mad. It wasn't you; it was me...I took what you said wrong, and blew up, and I'm sorry."

Jordan rubbed his arm with the other. "It's okay, Aaron. I'm sorry, if what I said sounded wrong."

They sat in silence for a moment, and then smiled. The feud was over. They were the best of friends again. Just like all the other times, they fixed the problem, settled their differences and made up.

They sat on that slightly damp grass, next to each other, and stared up at the sky, admiring the moon and stars. They sat there for at least an hour talking about life, their futures, and every other thing you could ever talk about. Jordan was now at peace, as was Aaron. Together, they sat on top of Grand Hill, not so lonely in the moonlight.