On Being Alone

Norman A. Rubin POB 1020 Afula 18550, Israel On Being Alone - Norman A.
Rubin At the silence of the night, an elderly man stood quietly near a
window. He remained there for a long time, looking at the glass without
a murmur. Within the dimness of the light, the elder saw shadowed
images forming on the glass He stared at his reflection in the window.
It pictured the elder faintly in its gloss; an image of man seen lonely
and forsaken in the emptiness of his later years. The wrinkles on his
oval features reflected his advanced age; the downward turn of the
lips, the creases around his eyes depicted his worry and care. The
elder's sight was unable to look through the pane to see beyond: he
only peered at the reflected images that were pictured from his mind on
the clear glass. He looked and only dreamt to the past years before the
turn of lonliness. The elder had been alone for a long time. And
because of his lonely years he, at times, simply stood and stared at
the window. With wide-open eyes he reflected on the past pictured in
images on the window. The glass to him is an opaque mirror that could
at the turn of his mind see within his soul. Images from deep memory
formed on the the plate window. Faces slowly appeared in recognition;
familiar scenes of the past materialized to his sight. The features of
a handsome woman were clearly pictured. Her cherubic face was full of
vigour and health with laughing eyes and a warm smile to her lips.
"Yes, " she was saying in the imagination of his thoughts. A wave of
light cleared the sight from his mind. A slight smile was etched on his
features as the window mirrored a two storey dwelling surrounded by a
garden filled with flowers and bushes. Within his mind the vista
pictured a happy home filled with promises of the future. A large tree,
then revealed itself on the glass. Two figures in their prime of years
were standing near the trunk in the embrace of their arms. The elder
looked closely at the image and his smile widened. As he stared deeper
into the image he recognized the facial features of the two lovers.
Suddenly the glaze of the window was fogged and the elder was unable to
perceive any images. Ater a moment or two the glass cleared and once
again images from his mind were mirrored on the glass. Tears formed in
his eyes as he visualized a form hidden under the white of a sheet.
Tears from his gray eyes increased as he saw on the glass a gloomy
sight of a large gravestone. Words etched on the marble image told of a
deep loss. Sadness enveloped him as he stared at the sight as it slowly
faded away into the transparency of the clear glass. The lonely and
forlorn elder continued to stand and peer at the window. He tried to
sustain the dream hoping to never wake again.