It wasn't until he closed the door behind him that he
stood very still. Facing the middle of this first room, the street outside was gone. The far away traffic, already invisible, no longer existed. He even forgot about his own little car.
Standing there, letting his eyes adjust, letting his smile remain…really, there was no way he could wipe his smile away…he breathed in the empty space.
He knew its dimensions. He had seen them during the
day. All he had to do was reach over and flip the light switch, but he didn't want to do that. Being born at night, there was an understood isolation. After the cry, there was the rest. Nestled within an embrace, still blind, comforted by the dark, silence was nourishment. He would have stood there longer to soak it all in, but there was one more spasm bubbling up from his stomach.
He twisted slightly to the left, his arm holding his sleeping bag against him sweeping backward, he then slung it forward, tossing the sleeping bag into the midst of the gloom.
"WOOOO!" his voice blasted those close walls. He heard it escape this room and dash throughout the rest of the building. Pausing, he was inspired to consider those other rooms. His smile couldn't get any wider, but more dimensions that lay under darkness stirred his senses.
He expelled a quivering sigh as his whole body shuddered. Quick to stoop and sit his cooler on the floor, he sprung back up and tossed his arms outward. Waves moved out from the center of his chest, causing his arms to flinch and jerk about. Sucking in a breath through clenched teeth, he convulsed, bringing his hands inward to clap together.
"HA!" he blurted out, stretching his arms out again,
balling his fingers into fists.
By now, his eyes had adjusted enough that he could see this first room. He looked toward the row of windows to his left. They gave him the view of the wall of the neighboring building, but because the mouth of that alley was just right there, light from those street lamps cut its way inside.
He walked over to stand in the center of the windows.
Looking out, it was still faint, but he could see the mural painted on that opposite wall. What would it be like if customers were able to sit at a bar here and see those abstract characters? How would they describe their actions?
There were plenty of colors and shapes, so those characters were definitely doing something.
He turned to face the middle of the room again. He thought about it many times, even when he wasn't here, but he still hadn't decided what would fill the space in the back of the room. Maybe a couch with a small coffee table near the front door.
He knew he still had time, so he focused straight ahead. Opposite the windows now at his back, he was staring into the blackness of an opened doorway. He wouldn't be able to see anything in that next room, because there were no windows. But the room beyond, there were windows just
like the ones behind him, but they actually stretched across the three outer walls.
Yes, customers would be able to see out into the
street, into that other alley, and glimpse a portion of the breezeway running along the back of the building. He might even be able to see some of those dimensions now, but again, he wasn't going to flick on any of the light switches.
He was still in the beginning of the process. Darkness was necessary. With it, he would eventually be able to see more. Until then, he searched the gloom of the floor and spotted his sleeping bag. Picking it back up, he went over to grab his cooler, and he started for the middle room.