"See ya tommorrow." He says as he walks out to his car. He starts the engine and he knows he isn't going home. Well maybe he is going home, but not home like most people would think. Tonight he just might make it home, but that doesn't mean the house where he lives. He lights up a cigarette and heads out into the night, the darkness which has become his close companion. He confides in the night, tells it his deepest feelings, his desires, reveals to it - and it only - his true self. The night touches his soul, and in its darkness he can try to find himself. He doesn't know if he is truly alive or dead, his living body seems to be the last obstacle to overcome on the path to freedom, a mere shell, the remnants of what was once his Life. So he goes there, to that Place. A Place where he has gone for many nights, to try to find the answers. It is a dark Place, where a subtle mix of fear and tranquility eases his pain. A Place to rest (in peace?), a Place to ponder, to think, a lonely Place, but he has found that loneliness can often be his best friend. He comes here, night after night, knowing that any of one of these nights could be his last, that he may come here and never leave. This place may shackle his body, and yet free his soul. It is sometimes frightening, and at the same time comforting.

And so he walks out, into the darkness. He stares into the night, listens to the sound of silence, and he is almost at peace. He walks over to the spot where he stands to embrace the darkness. The flame of his lighter flickers for a moment, then only the soft orange glow of a lit cigarette. Thoughts run through his mind. A light flickers in the distance. A sign he knows well. A short time passes as he continues to think deeply. Emotions run high and low, from sadness, to anxiety, to a relaxed state, and back again. His eyes take in the surrounding blackness. Suddenly a noise, fear, then calm. Simply a creature of the night, a passing chirp from a bird. The distant flicker brightens, bringing fear and excitement. He fixates his eyes, and his mind on the distant light. He stares at this white blur through the darkness. The light becomes increasingly brighter, and as it intensifies so does his fixation with it. Brighter, brighter, it now becomes everything, and the only thing. Still brighter, his mind has become filled with the light only. The surrounding space becomes dark until it is no more. Now he sees only the light, becoming brighter, it is the one and only thing in existence. Brighter still, he knows that this is the escape, to embrace the light, to touch the light is the way to eternity, the way to happiness. The answers, or rather the one answer, lies in the blinding white expanse, inside it, within its eternal space, and just beyond lies nothing. All he must do is stand absolutely still and in moments the he will touch the light and be ushered into eternity. He stares at it, in awe, it is so beautiful it almost brings tears to his eyes, he feels at peace in the comfort of his impending freedom. This Place is no longer silent, a low rumble arises, a series of thumps like the hooves of a galloping horse. Is this the Pale Horse? Perhaps not, for this is no horse born of flesh, yet he who sits upon this cold steed bears the same name nonetheless, and carries with him the same wrath.

Suddenly, a loud wail, far greater than this rumble pierces the darkness. The sounding of the angel's trumpet, like the cry of gods, as only such a sound could separate him from light. And with this cry follows fear, an intense fear. The light is now so bright it blinds him, to the point where he sees nothing. Is he seeing beyond, into the nothing? The fear is too much, so he turns and walks away. Looking again he realizes that the light is much farther than he had believed, yet it seems as though only a moment ago it would have consumed him. He walks away, and so his Life (or is it Death?) goes on for at least one more day. One more day, until he returns here, to watch the light, to stare into oblivion. One more day until he enters the darkness, to once again joust with the Dark Knight. Whether friend or foe, he knows it is only a matter of time now. He knows that one night he will lose the duel, feel the dark warrior's lance impale his mortal body, and with that release his soul.