ALL THAT WAS LEFT BEHIND

Stumbling in the Dark

Sometimes there must be a certain quality that determines whether or not another human being is to be trusted or not. There must be a certain aura about the person, some kind of mysterious energy flowing about them that certainly determines their honesty. But if that were the case, then everything about that person would be somewhere hanging out in that aura.

            And everyone knows that a person’s inner workings were hidden deep in the darkest corners of their mind, like secrets inked on a dusty page locked in an old box.

            Samuel continued to walk down the hall, but with a silence trailing behind him. I figured that whatever he had to say, he needed to piece it together in his mind before presenting it to me.

            His face still had that eternal contentment glittering over him, but his eyes knitted together in a slight confusion.

            Concerned, I hesitantly opened my mouth to speak, and tried to piece together some decent words. “Samuel? Is everything alright?” I finally asked.

            He opened his eyes to look at me, and lightly smiled. He then said with a slow, laid back voice, “Sea, everything’s going to be fine. I'm just thinking.”

            Samuel’s eyes closed, and he took a moment’s rest as he emerged into his little world of thought.

            I lightly blew a small aggravated sigh, and stopped to wait for his conclusion. I didn’t wait much longer, however, as I then softly asked: “What are you thinking about?”

            I received no answer in response for a moment. I was just about to repeat my question, but Samuel quickly snapped back to me.

            “To be totally honest with you, I have no idea what I'm doing right now,” he said plainly, and bore his pleading eyes into mine.

            Letting the moment slide that conceived the silence, I then realised that I should have to reassure the burly adult man the way I would a child. I’ve never seen him so lost before, although I still wasn’t quite sure about his behaviour at all.

            “Look, just tell me what’s wrong, and we’ll figure it out. It’s not that bad.” I shrugged trying to make light of the situation.

            Samuel then shook his head, gazing at the field of grimy tiles stretching across the ground. “No. This really isn’t safe. I thought I needed you, to help me understand the situation, so that we can bring back your father, or at least untangle the mess of where he might have gone. But listen, there’s nothing that we can do,” Samuel spoke solemnly, and was about to continue, until I interrupted him.

            “Hey,” I said, ignoring his slightly whiny protests. “You said that Lincoln had something to do with this. Did you see him yesterday? What happened?”

            Samuel shrugged. “Told me exactly what I’m telling you. There’s nothing we can do. He said other stuff too, but Sea? I believe him.”

            I shook my head, desperate to get through to him. “No. Lincoln probably doesn’t mean any harm, but he isn’t right. He came by my house yesterday actually, and told me not to trust you. I do trust you though, because you’re my last resort.” I sat breathing heavily with desperation, intensively watching his face for a flicker of emotion to appear. He faced the world and the pure, ever flowing breeze as if he hadn’t heard a word. “Please,” I added, in case he went for stuff like that.

            “Sea,” he pleaded. “Don’t make this any harder than it has to be. I apologize for even starting this with you, but I looked into everything I can.”