There are nights when the moon doesn’t show. I spend so much time wandering in the dark that my eyes adjust, and I can shift without detection. Every move I make is calculated, and executed with precision. 

Pathetic. 

I find what I’m looking for and I take it as though it belongs to no one else. 

Empty. 

Down here, guilt is like cancer and it spreads faster than before. 

Shameful. 

I can’t say no, and I pretend this will be the last time. 

Hopeless. 

I thought I was familiar but this time it’s worse, this time I’ve gone too far. 

And then I see a shadow. 

I know that every light has been covered, every candle put out, every fire was doused. I’m lost, I am alone…but there it is, an outline. There You are, lantern in hand.

I remember when I left You watched me slam the door. 

I remember when I left You said You had made my heart your home so I told you, ‘get out now because I’m gonna burn this place down.’

I remember when I left You. 

I shout out for you to get away but You’re not slowing down. 

“Take this.” 

The flicker of the old gas lamp was blinding and my hands shook with pain as they awakened from the cold. I sat there for hours watching the flame dance, I never even saw the sun had began to rise. 

And I didn’t understand it then but I held the handle tight. I started seeing things I never noticed before. I met the flashlights, the headlamps, the candles and the torches. We made a plan to welcome home the Light.