A Study in Senses

"What are you feeling?"

"I don't know."

"What do you hear?"

"I can't hear anything. No! I can hear a strange sound."

"What do you see?"

"I can't see anything. It's dark."

"What can you smell?"

"I can smell pee."

"How do you feel?"

"I feel cold and wet, and I am scared."

"Where are you?"

"I am in bed."

"Why are you scared?"

"Because it is dark. I am scared of the dark."

"Why are you wet?"

"I was too scared to get up to pee."

"Who are you?"

"I am little Johnny. I am five."

---

Little Johnny weeps and shivers. A distant light comes on, and the soft tread of footfalls brings the warm, scented, crooning embrace that drives the fears from his heart as wetness is dried and the darkness dies.

---

Night blends into day, while young blends into old.

"What are you feeling?"

"I am feeling tired, sad, relieved, and...and extremely tired."

"What do you hear?"

"I hear the wind blow. It whispers gently across my face. I hear the pavement groaning, the buildings creaking, and a distant banging."

"What do you see?"

"I see nothing but blackness around me, but there are shadows nearby and flickering lights."

"Are you frightened?"

"No. The dark is my friend. It protects me and hides me from others."

"What do you feel?"

"I feel cold. It is cold, and I am shivering. This makes me sad, but I am happy because I am still alive and relieved...relieved because my friend the dark has protected me again."

"Where are you?"

"I am in an alleyway, under some boxes. This has been my home for three weeks now, but my days are numbered. The council was here yesterday and tried to take my boxes."

"Why are you here?"

"Because I was a child once. I wanted to become a man and not be scared of everything. Because I became a man and was frightened of other things. Because as a man, I took things to not be frightened anymore. Then everything weighed so heavily, I sought the freedom of a boy. Because I wanted to become that boy once again."

"What do you smell?"

"I smell pee. I have just peed in my pants once again. Why? Because I was too tired to get up."

"Who are you?"

"I am John. I am 52."

---

The sky begins its weeping lament. Mists of sweet scents fold effortlessly through, over, and around all below, cleansing, washing. John embraces the rain as it splashes about him. He shivers less and less, then pees his last as the darkness lives and John dies.