The Light

Ryan Blackwell


They say to run towards the light at the end of the tunnel.  They say you will be saved, that everyone you have ever known will be there to welcome you.  They say this to comfort you, to give you a little nudge out the door.  They don’t tell you what happens if there is no light, if all you see when you’re in the tunnel is black, black so dark you don’t know where to run.  They have told me for months that I will see the light soon.

 

The door opens and light rushes through, it fills the room and stings my battered naked body.  They speak in a language I don’t understand as I feel the ice cold touch of metal against my forehead.  I close my eyes and hear a click.

 

That’s the first time I saw the light.

Euphemism Campus Box 4240 Illinois State University, Normal, IL 61790-4240