Light Box (P1)

Though One, Brahman is the cause of the many. Brahman is the unborn in whom all existing things abide. The One manifests as the many, the formless putting on forms. (From the Vedic writings of Hinduism)


“If only you’d died.” Debra spoke without parting her teeth.

“What?” was the only word Jack could get out, his voice cracking as he said it.

They sat silent. Debra seemed to Jack like a violent statue. How could a thing seem to be brewing and seem to be rock all at once?

“Deb…” he said as he made a move for her hand. The statue flinched. She moved her hand to her lap and posed herself like a volcano again.

She tried taking her mind somewhere else as she felt the wet boil up in her eyes. It wasn’t time to cry. If she focused hard enough she could actually hear the music in her head. But what good was music now, she thought as she felt Jacks eyes on her like a pleading child. The two were so silent she thought she could hear his heart beating.

“Do you really mean that?” Jack asked. He was surprised to find that he actually physically hurt, and to speak was more painful yet. A vice held his throat and the sound that came out was unfamiliar.

“Yes” She said. She sounded emotionless, certain. Little did Jack know, the same vice gripped her as she spoke.

She knew how much this hurt him. She didn’t just empathize. It wasn’t compassion. She knew. She knew the inside of him as well as she knew herself. Her mind was on the verge of implosion as she realized this; as I watched her realize this. The tapestry of her thoughts was on fire with a knowledge she could not contain. For a moment, it seemed humorous that she likened the perspective to a child in a funhouse surrounded by mirrors reflecting mirrors. But only for a moment; and then it was frightening, grotesque, monstrous.