Walking in the Dark

Last night I had to get out hoping to make sense of the Sandy Hook tragedy. I walked for miles in the dark gravitating towards the streets with the gaudiest light displays in their yards. I wanted to ring the bells of the people I knew and give them a hug. I did pass a house where a man was out smoking a cigarette in his driveway and he asked me if I could wait a second and he brought out his grand-daughter wrapped in a fleece blanket to see Lily. "She loves dogs!" he said. The girl had a wide owl face with round eyes and a crisp beaky upper lip with pronounced philtrum. She was sleepy, I could see. "She's tired" he said. "Thank you!" he said, turning to go back inside. Thank you I thought. This was just what I needed. This is why I need to live near people.

I walked by the oxblood-red house with the wrap around porch. It was all dark. The girl is going through a divorce, but she's young, she'll be okay, she's got dogs and a job she loves and a house she loves.