June 16, 2010- 9 p.m.
I sit in the back of the room, silently watching a tableau of insecurity and the desperation of everyday life. I’m numb to the empty-headed chatter that is meant to be clever or funny but is neither. The noise of my solitude drums out the redundancy of their forced hilarity.
Then he appears. It is as if he just materialized, a true original, filling my isolation with outrageous possibilities. I’ve heard his name before, but he certainly isn’t who I expect. Not classically handsome, he looks directly into my eyes and then his intelligence and wit draws me into his world. Within moments I am his captive as I throw away my watch and calendar. The demands of the mundane become irrelevant as we travel to unscheduled ports. It all happens so quickly and without fanfare, I feel I am pre-destined to follow him. With no want to resist, I know that if asked I’ll pledge allegiance to this outsider.
He exposes the universality of human frailty as I hear his voice tell me to hold tight and pretend it’s a plan! He allows me to travel beside him not expecting anything other than to bear witness and honor a true spirit. I don’t know how long we were together, on a path of limitless possibilities. The boundaries of linear time are destroyed as we journey sharing adventures enough to fill lifetimes.
And then it’s over. I understand that everything has a beginning and end, but our time together seems so brief and then he is just gone. I search for his name in the listings and I don’t know if it will be a week, a month or a year. I am confident he will be back when it is least expected. So this weekend I patiently wait secure in the knowledge that he will return, and step from the blue police box to challenge my isolation.
Toni Kief
Author and Late Bloomer
Karen J. Mossman 