Story-A-Day #5: In The Dark

IN THE DARK

She was happier in the dark. It wasn’t an asocial tendency, or a defense mechanism; she just appreciated what the darkness had to offer: inspiration.

She was a fairly normal young woman, with normal routines, a normal job, and a normal blue armchair in her normal apartment. That’s how she viewed herself anyway, average in every way: comportment, looks, intellect, personality – abundantly average.

That is what she had always thought, but if you were to ask anyone else, they would have a very different picture to paint. They would tell you that the young woman was one of the most beautiful, intelligent, caring and vibrant people you could ever meet. Mrs. Cross, her grade 11 English teacher would tell you about the limitless creativity and potential that her favourite student had always showed so effortlessly. Rick Mancini, her college boyfriend, would tell you how being near her was like having a current of vitality and life running through your entire body. He would also say he had no regrets.

She didn’t see any of that though, because she preferred the dark. She had secrets that no one else could know about.

As a young girl, she had learned that there were things that existed within the secret corners of night, wonderful creatures and mysteries, and entirely different ways of being that made normal life pale. The harsh light of day was not the place where these secrets could thrive, although sometimes they could be perceived, like a sensation of greatness just beyond reach.

Sometimes, she would catch a glimpse of them in the most unexpected of places. They would wink at her from a diamond burst of sunlight reflected off the surface of a mid-afternoon lake. They would beckon to her with curled fingers from a shaft of light that sliced through her curtains. They were always there, just out of sight.

The darkness was where she thrived and while she viewed herself as abundantly average because of what she knew was out there, it was the darkness that allowed her to be shine in the eyes of others.