One

As always, I was without words. My mouth so dry. My mind so empty.
When they came, it was in the early morning. Nothing about that morning
was memorable and yet it cannot be forgotten. They wanted to know about
my past dealings. They were so insistent. They called to me in my bed.
They were not only the men, but the women as well. They rattled the
drain spout and clamored until I had to rise.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Your friends are we," they answered.

"What friends?"

"Your only friends now," whispered by them all, "the others are dead
you know."

"I don't know such a thing."

"Come down and we will show you the bodies."

"And I will be among them."

"No, don't fear." Whispering again, "We won't hurt you. Just come
down."

With fear and foreboding, I went down amongst them. My friends were
there in dusty humps that clung to the wet sidewalk. I walked there and
was so careful not to tread upon those remains.

"Well here I am," I said.

"So you are and so you will be."

"So you think, but what you don't know is that I am here to save these
lost souls, and when I do, we shall all leave, and you too will be
free."

"Such a nervous boast," the smallest of them and yet clearly their
leader approached and I was shaken.

"Not a boast," I recovered and then pointed at him. "Just a simple
fact."

I began to wither and collapse. A final puff of air passed my lips and
I felt first a damp darkness and then a brilliant and warming light.
One by one those old friends arose and shot like a virtue straight up
to the heavens. And then the whispers changed to sighs and the most
vile of them came at me. It took just an instant and we too were
flying. We all came into a vast cave of white light. Out became in.
Good was evil and evil was now good and all of them swirled about and
disappeared. I was no more and never was. Once again I had no words.
Had no . . . had . . .