a paper i wrote for english class
Posted on: January 7, 2008, at 06:12:51pm

Erie

The painted wood frame of the old screen door swings into the empty night. A bare foot steps reluctantly onto the rough concrete step; another foot follows but aims lower. Now only this one soul inhabits the empty park. He continues down the eroding street populated by sleeping buildings. In the dark he is nothing but a silhouette juxtaposed against the large, white church still standing as a social haven on Sunday mornings, but on this Friday night it is empty, exhausted, hollow. A white beam casts shadows across the street that dance almost mockingly feigning life or interest. The tired security man slowly creeps past in his vermilion truck turned crimson in the night. The lonely soul takes note of the truck but continues. He surveys the horizon for any signs of life, but there is none; all the benches sit empty, only figures standing are those of trees. He smirks at a quote from the sign that he’s read dozens of times before “the beach closes at 10”. It’s nearing two, but he slouches on and shambles down the stairs. He pauses for a moment to stare out into the dark horizon and listen to the somehow soothing cacophony of waves crashing upon sand. He steps out onto the cold, harsh sand, damp from rain and almost recoils, but it doesn’t matter much in his mind. He shuffles out of the shadow cast by the trees and basks in the bright white light cast form the full moon, but the light grants him no warmth on his face or soft sand to ease the pain of his feet, so he carries on towards the craggy pier, and his final destination.