Monster

The place. The man. One face, two face. He, an ordinary man like most ordinary people. He had his life, his home. The place he lived, the things he did. Everyone. His trials, his troubles, his lies, his truths, his secrets, his strengths.

The place behind the willow tree, where he felt he was secure. And in it’s base, the tiny prison he escaped should the need come. That prison, of earthen bars and dreams that sleep, in it, he found peace. Unhealthy maybe, that darkness, but the prison was his escape. A prison for the outside world. For in the man, lurked a beast. A monster that threatened his mind, his heart, his law, his chaos. No one knew this monster, not a soul save he. He feared it, he feared what it made him feel, he feared that absence, that lack of light.

Time after time, when the shadows sulked and the madness crept in, he escaped to his prison and the monster arrived. There he would escape and no harm came to the world. But in his mind, that damaged mind, he knew no one would be hurt. That prison was his sanctuary, it protected him. It protected him.

Strange years when the wind did blow, and the howl of the monster came, but to the man's surprise, beneath the willow tree, his prison was no longer there. Broken, shattered and tossed to the wind, by chance or by design Fate had spoken. He didn’t expect this. He didn’t plan for this. Without his prison, there was no place for the monster to go, no escape to seek, no dreams to dream. His eyes, they opened and they saw too much. They saw what he did not want them to see. So from under the willow tree he ran.

He ran, but he did not know what he would do. He did not know where he would go.

The only thing he knew was that he did not know.