The sun shined for a brief moment in Sunset Park.

It was July, and the promise of tomorrow never felt more present. The walls were closing in, but that just brought us closer together. The sun shined for a brief moment, but as fast as she rose, she decidedly disappeared.

Perhaps she hid behind a cloud. Perhaps the happenings of the neighborhood scared her away. Perhaps she sought shelter behind the hill… past 8th Avenue and beyond. Far away from the ugliness of the world, never to be seen again.

He looked for her. He fought, and cried, and yelled. I was just as clueless as him, but who was I to call back for something that never belonged to me?

The sun shined for a brief moment in Brooklyn, but then the winter settled in, and we were demoted to 3rd. We were forced underground. Six floors below our beloved turquoise tower.

It was the snowiest winter in years, and pretty soon a tiny avalanche sealed us in our bunker. The walls closed in, and this time it was suffocating. We were far away from yesterday. Away from the music, and the people, and the things that kept the light alive. Far away from the little hill that I suspected the sun to be hiding behind.

Soon enough, the grittiness settled in. We became mole people; creatures of the night. Unabashed participants in the ugliness of the world. The little bit of light left in us was smothered out.

We were blind once again.

What was to be done?

I retreated. Watched the world around me as the earth spun and spun and spun.

Seems I was stuck. I withstood the clashing of the train above me, inhaled the slaughter of the coop, and braved the piercing snow every day.

Walked through walls. Powered through mounds of snow.

I clocked into “the company” every single day. Stood under the white light. Learned to find solace in the mundane.

I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what he was off doing during this time. Lucky for him, he’d won a ticket out of the darkness. It granted him access into the big city for a few hours every day.

I know the shimmery bright lights of midtown put a smile on his face. I know that wasn’t the only thing keeping him warm and comfortable over there, but what was I to know?

I was busy holding down the fort, becoming friends with the darkness down here in Sunset Park.