The Opening

I wonder how long has it been since I had the time to take a stroll in the night. I couldn't actually remember the last time I did that. Not with other people, just myself trudging along the endless road, mulling through the befuddled mind of mine while I take in the night air.

Here I am, after a long time, the cold breeze that gently caresses my skin as I walk on the tarred road. I waved at the security personnel who was on duty for the night and slowly made my way to the edge of the abandoned land directly outside my house. The road that lay before me was wide and empty, with only three cars parked near the Chinese restaurant. Of course, my attention was not at the cars but at my own thoughts. This was the time when I could just relax and reorganize the continuously jumbled thoughts that swirl in the deep depths of my brain.

There was no full moon yet but it was reaching there. I was lucky the rain had abated. Otherwise, I would not have been able to enjoy the atmosphere now. I adjusted the neck of my jacket and continued down the path. The more I walk, the more I became absorbed into my realm of thought. The slight chill was exactly what I needed to relax.

"You know, I thought you had rid yourself of those sentimental thoughts,"a voice spoke from my side as a similarly built man fell into step with me. "HD, "I acknowledge,"I thought you were off elsewhere already." HD laughed as he walked. He was garbed in a black shirt with matching jeans, making his presence extremely unclear in the night. We had separated ways the previous year and I was genuinely surprised to see him return.

"I have completed what I had set out to do. I have returned once again to your side to set things straight at your end. Sorry I could not be there for the funeral...From what I heard, I guess its been harsh." I nodded as we stopped by the crossroad outside the housing area. "It was a bit hard to take it all in,"I started, "but I've moved on since then. The mourning stage has come and gone, and there are other things that I have to take care now." HD nodded as we gazed at the empty streets. Occasionally, a car would speed past the straight road without any incident.

"I used to think that with you discarding most of your emotions, you would be an empty shell, one without any feeling as to what others feel. I guess, with recent events, I was wrong. You did not visit your garden, I can see that, but while you had neglected it, you did not neglect your other duties. I underestimated you, Andrew. There might be some good in you after all." HD's words were not a compliment...it was merely stating a fact. As far as memory takes me, this is the nearest HD got to paying me a compliment, something I know a person like him would never ever do. "Still, there are loopholes in those actions. Sometimes, things will not go the way you want it to be. Take your garden for example. While you avoided it, I was still tending to it. The previous flower has withered but another has taken its place. I think you do not need me to tell you that it is your duty to make sure that flower stays alive for as long as it can be. We both know that it is not 'that' which is making you avoid the garden."

I snorted. "I guess there is no hiding from you, huh." I sighed as we begin our walk back to my house.

"Yes, there was another reason as to why I had avoided tending the garden. As I learnt the hard way, despair does not always become my greatest strength. Sometimes, it is my greatest weakness. The thought of seeing a solitary flower grow in the middle of a nurturing grassy plot of land somehow depicts a sort of painful memory that I had decided not to recall. But, I guess you are right. I can only avoid it for so long."

"You know what you have to do. The foundation has been laid..its up to you to perfect the design. Despair may or may not be your strength but know this. Everything you do is like two faces of a coin. It can be either good or bad. Heck, it might be both when the situation deems it so. And this time around, I will not be the one to help you with everything you do. I am here, as I have always been, as an adviser, someone to keep you in check only when needed. The rest of the factors, you will have to handle it on your own.."

HD stopped in his tracks and begin walking the opposite way. "You do not need to worry about the others. I am keeping a tight leash on them so you do not have to worry. That much I can assure you. However, there are still others who walk on this Earth. I do not expect you to be able to withstand all of them...but I shall see how much you can take. This is goodbye, Andrew. Until we meet again."

HD melted into the darkness as I continued my walk back without slowing down. Having cleared my thoughts, I think about the next day and the following days to come. Its time to take it to the next step. Its time to step up. Time to take measures for the orchestra to be played. The lines have been written. The notes are in tune. All that is left is to start the rhythm.

This is the opening.