Hospital “The Light”

Much of the following I would attribute to the state of exhaustion reported by the narrator.

“It was as dark of a night as I had ever experienced when I finally managed to stumble my way out of the hospital. It had been a full day since my grandmother had entered the emergency ward, her skin pale, hardly a breath left in her body. By now I was exhausted, and my eyes were burning even when they were closed. Wearily, I followed the sidewalk and headed towards the lamppost hanging above the bus stop nearby.

There was a chill in the air, frost gripping the ground, causing the grass to crunch under my feet. A harsh wind thrashed the branches of the trees, causing the lamppost to gently sway back and forth. In five minutes the bus would arrive and I would be on my way home. With effort maybe I would manage not to fall asleep. You never know who you would meet on these early morning buses, and I wasn't in the mood to wake up and find my pockets a bit lighter.

I felt my heart jump as a car passed by, the heavy hiss of the wind brushing past my ears as it headed down the street. Gripping the side of my nose, I realize how spent I was, my nerves completely shot. I looked up and watched as the red tail lights flashed, passing quickly down the street until they were long out of sight.

I shivered, the thought of my grandmother entering my mind; eyes closed, lips pale. Her body had been clothed in tubes by the time I had left, her form quivering, grasping desperately to each breath. Even now there is a lingering knot in my chest, long after the doctors had declared her condition as more or less stable.

I took a long breath, shifting uncomfortably as I tried to relax. Then another gust of wind hit me hard as the lamppost swayed, the light disrupting the shadows on the ground. I looked around, noticing that the other lights were off all along the street, as if providence had provided this one light for me.

At last I saw the headlights of the bus, wincing at the high pitch squeal of the brakes. I got on, paid, and wandered my way over to a seat. I closed my eyes, then opened them at the thought of a long night sleep. I looked back at the lamppost positioned just above the bus stop. Then I noticed the thin scale like depressions all along its length. Puzzled, I kept focused on it as we pulled away, watching as the light dropped into a coil low along the ground, and slithered quickly across the asphalt, down an alley, and out of sight.”