Friday, July 22, 2011

Father and Son

Last night, I escorted out of my home a daddy long leg. He had with him a wispy-legged little one. I don't know why I thought he was a father, and not a mother. Perhaps it was his confidence, his purposeful stride up my wall; he was full of intent as led the way for his little shadow. 


Life on a pale wall
I hoped to give them both a better life than the pale wall of my bedroom, so I placed a glass jar onto the wall and slid a credit card bill between the wall and the lid. Once outside, I chose a corner of a path and released them out into the night: their new world. 


In their frantic escape from the glass jar, father and son took off scurrying down the sidewalk in opposite directions. The moonlight shimmered on their tiny backs, and in their haste, I wondered if either one ever turned around and notice their divergent paths.


With my glass jar in hand, I went back to my pale walls. Wherever their new paths lead, I hope they'll be happy. I hope their slender legs carry them to where they belong. And I hope they meet again before too long. I like to imagine the father will turn around, wonder what is behind him, what he left, and what it was that made him hurry away and forget what was once most important.