Thoughts in the Night

            I looked out in the night sky and down the long lonely street; trees bending toward the road, the night suffocating. My hands fumbled into my pockets grabbing for my match book. Some comfort came in the lighting of my pipe, but I couldn't help the sinking feeling of being alone. You see, I snuck out of my window earlier. It was about eleven-fifteen, my parents conk out at about 9:30 so I knew they would be dead asleep by the time I went out. The problem was that no one knew where I was or where I was going. If I vanished my friends would just think I didn't show up. My parents wouldn't realize till morning. The warm yet suffocating blanket of my parent’s protection was off of me. At least for a couple hours.

            The adrenaline surged through my veins even though it wasn't too big of a deal. I mean I've done it many times before. Every time it feels the same.

            I got to the corner of the suburban street, sitting and waiting for my friend to come out. The lights were off in the houses, and I let my mind wander to the people inhabiting the cookie-cutter dwellings. Most of them were likely to be warm in their bed, anticipating the next day of work, even before they got up in the morning. They were probably even thinking of paying off their college loans. Thinking of job security, living in homes they don’t own, driving cars they don’t own, and eating out of a fridge that is on layaway.

            I chuckled thinking of how suffocated they are. Then I frowned thinking of how suffocated they are. Like I normally do, I sat back and dreamed of my future. How I was going to be different.

             Life can sometimes just be pain, and anyone who tells you differently is selling you something. I am seventeen and broke poor, and am fine with being that way for the rest of my life. I knew something that person in the house with the big T.V. and the dog didn't. Joy is freedom and friends. That’s it.