A Spark in the Night

Everything was in chaos. Nobody knew what was going on, nobody knew what to do. It was a complete Black Out. Clouds had covered the night sky, and the full moon had brightened the night, along with all the artificial lights. But then it happened. A massive power outage, all over the world, left those lights dark. We still had the moon, but then it disappeared too. A full lunar eclipse, blocking out all the light we had. Everyone panicked. People tried to light fires, charge the lights they had. But the lights would not charge, and the violent wind blew out and fires that had been lit.

It was early in the night. I got fed out with the foolish people around me, and ran off into the wild hills surrounding the city. It was cold, and my parents told me not to go, but I didn’t care. The wildness and magical quality of our situation drew me to the wilds. I walked and walked and walked until my feet near wore out.

What I saw out there made me sad, so sad. We were supposed to be a master race, but all I saw we fearful people who just wanted their light back. I pitied them. All they wanted was a light, a hope, a sign that the light would return or the sun would rise.

It felt like I had walked a thousand miles; for I could I no longer see the desperate city I had abandoned. It must have been midnight, and the darkest hour of our darkest night. For the first time, my heart longed for something, something I couldn’t say. Maybe it was a light, maybe just some hope that everything would be all right. Even without the loss of light, our world was bad. Conflicts every day, people suffering and dying. If I could have seen a shooting star, or released a genie from a lamp, I would only have one wish. For hope. For a peace in a dark time. A lull of a cool night in a blazing desert day of hatred. Maybe that was what this was. A peace, a ceasefire for us. No one cared right now. All they wanted was the light.

I looked to the sky. For a moment, I saw a tiny break in the clouds. Then I saw it. The bright North Star, although it seemed only I could see it. The others were too scared and too blind in the night. But I saw it. And I followed its light.

Like the Star of Bethlehem, it delivered me to a great city and a great hope. But the city I found was a ruined one. I found no messiah, but I did find a hope and a happiness a million years of wealth and worldly pleasure could never give me.

The bones of an olden sky scraper lived in the very centre of the city, like a throne for a great dead king that still waited for its heir. I climbed and I climbed, until I must have been in the middle. I was scared to fall, but I turned my eyes away from the ground and gazed to the horizon. A gleam caught my eye, and I turned to see a swing. It swung in the breeze, like a ghost of a child. I smiled. What had once been an indoor playground was now a ruin yard.

Climbing onto the swing, I swung to and fro, swinging both into the open air with nothing below me and into the very maw of the building. The wind whipped around my face, and I laughed. There wasn’t anything more than this. Nothing could every compare.

Out of the blackness, came a flash of light. A single bolt, followed by a loud crash. A lightning storm. A thunder storm. It boomed and flashed, illuminating the sky for the whole world to see. I laughed, now I wasn’t the only one to see the light. Now everyone could see it.

I felt a few drops against my skin. Then the torrential downpour began. I was screaming, singing, and laughing. I kept swinging, through the violence and euphoria of the storm. I knew then that I was okay. I would grow to love the night, the sanctuary against the burning day. My eyes would dilate, and I would be able to see better in the darkness, even see what no one else could. I smiled. I knew I would be alright, no matter how long the night is.