Pierced by Time & Distance

by Kayce Stevens Hughlett

The least we can do is try to be there.*

She stood on the balcony surrounded by fading light and wondered, 

“Where have I landed? This isn’t what I planned.”

With three beats of her heart, she looked upward 

where moments before trees were backlit by

shades of amber and gold.

Now, she saw only black. 

Darkness. A tropical abyss of WTF!?!

She blinked once, twice, a holy three times before

a triangular form shape-shifted and swooped

towards her through the darkness, 

then dove downward a millisecond 

before entering her personal airspace.

Space, pierced by time and distance.

Her stomach rumbled, 

the night sky indicated it should be dinnertime. 

A slight sense of nausea made her 

wonder when she’d had her last meal.

Was it the Kind bar she’d eaten in Taipei while

sipping a lukewarm latte?

She shook her head and remembered 

unwrapping Hello Kitty plasticware. 

Poking around in a noodle-y concoction. 

Munching on a stale cracker. 

Eating an apple that tasted like an orange, and

Finishing an orange that tasted like nothing. 

On the balcony in the dark, 

she wondered what was the absolute least she could do.

Cry? Call home? Flee?

This wasn’t urgent … or was it? 

This wobbly sense of hunger and confusion

that filled her time traveling body.

She knew she’d been here before…

Well, not exactly here, but

here wasn’t where she’d expected to land,

and there came the rub. The failed expectations.

The plans made out of old memories and desires.

The ones woven from selected photos and journal entries.

Why did memory seem to fail her? 

How could she forget this repeating transient moment?

The one where she had yet to arrive here, and

there was as elusive as the swooping triangles. 

The least she could do was try to be there …

Wherever that might be.  

*Inspired by excerpt: Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

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SoulStroller: experiencing the weight, whispers, & wings of the worlds  is a Nautilus Book Awards Winner!!  Available @ Bookstores, Amazon, and in your favorite audio version read by author, Kayce S. Hughlett 

“Hughlett finds her voice in the most unexpected places—amidst the grief of life’s challenges, in letting go, in strengthening through presence.” Pixie Lighthorse,  Prayers of Honoring Grief