A dog, a Woman and a Square
Dancing around the darkness.
4 minute readA dog, a woman and a square. City lights, dark enough to let everyone wander inside their heads, shiny enough to keep them preoccupied with the faces that surround them.
A square. A statue is standing at the centre. But no one has ever observed it closely enough. It’s features are unknown, and maybe there are none, for it is its position that matters. The centre. The centre of a small universe, various people revolving around it. Dizzy thoughts, alcohol mixed with strange feelings, everyone is there for their own reasons. Some random, some well thought, some destined to be unknown. Vibrations are travelling through the air. Someone brought a small speaker and a few are dancing to its rhythm. Where did they come from? Where are they heading to, after disappearing into the dark alleys? This city is full of such alleys. Five Million People Inhabit it. Most of them squeezing their lives into small blocks of cement and stress. Being semi asleep and semi awake - both during the day and the night. Living on the edge of nothingness and existence, undecided about where to go. What is keeping them from choosing a side? Some people continue to dance. Others engage in thoughtful conversations powered by alcohol. Not that these lead to any conclusions - everyone just wants to prove their point and shout louder. Lost in their own microverse, lost inside the microverse of others or just observing. Why is everyone here? Are they alive or are they dead? A strange collective. A collective of socially con-conformists, of immigrants, of middle-class young adults who want to appear cool, of people with faces, eyes, stories and thoughts. Someone has to dismantle them, closely examine them from a new point of view. They have to have something in common after all. This city must have something in common after all.
Three young children are wandering aimlessly through the crowd. Packed with a mask, a bag full of empty bottles, their hearts and no knowledge of the local language they try to find more empty bottles of beer. Useless Glass, one would say. But not to them. Those Glass can be traded for pennies at the local store. Which can then be exchanged for food. Which can be exchanged for energy. To get more bottles. To get more pennies. To get more food.
A dog. A dog is standing among the crowd, tightly leashed. It exerts some aggressiveness towards the faces around it. Everyone acts surprised and withdraws. Only to try to gain its trust afterwards, and failing. They are afraid. But at least they try to make friends with it.
The dance continues.
A woman. A woman, strange, alone, stumbling between the faces. It’s past midnight. Although moving with difficulty, she is moving steadily. She is holding a bag in her left arm, her clothes are quite a bit torn, her hair is messy, her home is probably long gone.
She is moving slowly. The dog sees her. The dog takes a step forward. The square is silent. Everyone is lost inside their head, trying to find the answer hidden in front of their eyes. The dog snarls, barks and shows its teeth. The woman doesn’t move a bit. For she is not afraid. She has seen worse. She doesn’t care about being bitten. She doesn’t care about irrational fears. She has descended into darkness and has returned.
Endless nights under the rain, endless days without food, endless people mocking her. Her soul filled with desperation, her body filled with scars, she doesn’t care. She doesn’t back down, she continues moving, slowly and steadily to an unknown destination. She doesn’t even acknowledge the dog. She has seen worse. She doesn’t have the energy to spare.
The dance continues. The square speaks, the faces leave, everyone sleeps, eventually. So does the whole city. Afraid that their lives might get ruined. Afraid that they might lose something insignificant, something they think is of tremendous value. Angry about others treating them unfairly. Sad about people living in the streets. Asking the wrong questions, finding semi-right answers. Delusional and drunk inside their microverse. Captives of their fear.
The woman has no resources, but is fearless. The children have no food, but are restless. The faces have resources, but lack anything else.
And the dance continues.
The only thing added are two crying eyes.
Will you be the one to break the cycle?