Part 2 of 3: Pyramid Song

Like his swaying arms, the young man walked an indefinite stroll. The Mississippi was flowing with a mad rush of icy cold water from the other end of the bridge. Small bright specks of light coming from the farthest horizon of downtown Minneapolis caressed the glassy pupils of him. There were tears in his eyes but it was not a night of smoky draft nor was there a slightest gush of wind blowing sand. He kept his gaze low, almost not looking at all to where he was going. Like searching for small cracks on the pavement, he toiled to lift his head and stare the world. Every time he saw a familiar silhouette that reminded him of his pathetically poignant youth, he broke out into tears again. Sobbing about mindlessly, he gradually sensed the loneliness of a sad and abandoned puppy. Faith, in him or in existence, no longer comforted a broken down and distressed Lalat.

"Where is your compassion now, oh God?"

He stopped at once and stared blankly and waited faithfully, like he was expecting for a reply to his scream. The sky was brighter than usual but there were no stars in between him and the heavens. The clarity of the sky made a fool out his question. Only dead silence prevailed. He was sure God heard him but was too busy to notice his pitiful existence. Lalat was enraged by the act of a divine negligence.

"Where have you taken my childhood bliss?"

Hopeless, he punched an imaginary target in front of his face. A sudden outburst of anger followed but soon was drowned by his ensuing tears. The sight of darkness blanketed his effusive fit. He laid his chin on the frosty metal handrails of the Washington U Bridge with his arms tucked to his armpits into a warming hug to his body. Breathing heavily to the beat of a slow time signature with the rhythm of his weep, he echoed his own cry with the lazy kicking of his right foot to the ground. Still not gratified with the silence of the heavens, he stood up high above the handrails with both feet elevated from the cement, his whole body supported only by his straightened arms. From that posture, he yelled once more to the empty space.

"Why? Why? Why?"

It was not long before gravity pulled him down, slamming his feet to the concrete bridge like a rotten fruit fallen off a tree. The trailing of his last scream managed to bounce off the walls of several buildings nearby but only once they did and in a subsiding whimper. Lalat was listless after that. He felt more sorrowful than before and wanted no more of this shouting and crying. He had his answer or so he thought. The sudden breeze of chilly air scared his hostility away and infested him with despair. He looked around and saw nobody. Yes, he was correct. He let out a brief cough from his throat and exhaled a deep breath out of his heavy lungs. With a single twist of his abdomen, he turned around and climbed the bridge’s handrails. After a quick hop, he stood up slowly and raised his grips away from the lamppost, stretching out to touch the blowing wind. With his chest wide open and his eyes closed tightly, he sang the words of a song only he knew how dear it is to him.

"I jumped into the river and what did I see? Black-eyed angels swam with me. A moon full of stars and astral cars and all the figures I used to see. All my lovers were there with me and all my past and futures. We all went to heaven in a little row boat..."

He restrained himself for a moment. Tears were gushing out again but this time only tears and accompanied no more with the sobbing of a grown man. The edginess was there painted all over his face but that did not halt him from continuing on with the crooning of his last number of gloom.

"There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt. There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt."

As if on cue, Lalat tilted his head backwards and let the helplessness of his weight jerk him down to the raging rapids of the river below. All along the fall to his death, he kept an open eye to the sight of the pitch-black darkness of the sky. Soon, only the sound of a splash into the water echoed the surroundings and nothing ensued after.

(to be continued with Part 3 of 3)