Skip to main content

Love in the Dark

There was a tense moment and it seemed awkward not to greet as they passed.
| Lawrence Brazier | Issue 151 (Jan - Feb 2023)

This article has been viewed 26110 times

Love in the Dark

In This Article

  • To turn and speak to him would have been a tremendous, impossible step against the world and a bound existence.

It was discouragingly dark among the shrubs, and there was the rustle of dead leaves. A half-moon made mottled silver patterns on the higher branches of the trees.

Walking through the park at night made the girl acutely aware of solitude. She saw the stoic swans on the lake but they were ghostly calm as they floated, without a ripple, eerily into and out of shadows.

Somebody approached.

Her footfall faltered and she hoped it was unnoticed. The gap shortened. A young man came towards her. Her head lifted, bravely, her eyes shone, fixed to a point behind him. She felt relief because she sensed embarrassment in him. There was a tense moment and it seemed awkward not to greet as they passed.

A thought occurred. She knew, then, that he was afraid of frightening her.

He slouched a little, desperate to be relaxed. In daylight he may have asked her for directions to somewhere or other. Just to start a conversation, jokingly, laughing, supported by the presence of other anonymous people around them.

She disliked the dark, not as before through imagined danger, but because there could be no human contact. Anger arose and he felt her anger. He felt ashamed and was aware of what he sensed, wrongly, about her feelings. He wanted to turn and call after her, to say, “Sorry,” for all that had happened in parks at night. She knew that he was in a state that meant failure. To turn and speak to him would have been a tremendous, impossible step against the world and a bound existence.

She hurried on and went home, wondering about what he was like. There had been only a remote glimpse, and she wondered if she could have liked him. She was determined to go again to the park seeking a second impossible chance in daylight. To give life a chance. Just to be sure.

She went the next day, impatient to have it over. They saw each other coming. She sat on a bench, kids and mothers all around her. Skateboarders rumbled by. He sat beside her and asked for directions. Then they both laughed. A couple of years later they talked it over, with their own children at their feet on the grass.

As they talked, they heard a barely audible clap as two angels high-fived.


More Coverage

The questions on the creation of mankind and the inner workings of the universe have been the primary issues that have had a profound impact on both modern, secular philosophy and traditional religion. Our collective experiences in natural sciences…
No link found between gender and performance in physics courses Dew et al. Gendered performance differences in introductory physics: A study from a large land-grant university. Physical Review Physics Education Research, February 2021. A new study…
With the fire of grief, ever burning inside, This humble heart of mine cherishes you day and night. *** With its grief and worries plunging into sweet dreams, My heart aches, O please, look at this servant once *** Seeing you—be it a dream—is th…
Think of a kitchen. This kitchen has a blender for blending, an oven for cooking, a fridge for cooling, utensils for eating, a dishwasher for cleaning, pans for frying, jars for storing, peelers for peeling, etc. It has a full line of tools, gadgets…