one day, by me

one day a little boy and his demon met on the shore. 

the demon was a creature: with horns, a long tail, a furry body and big teeth. 

but the boy was brave and talked to him face to face.

perhaps it was time, he had thought to himself.

perhaps it was time for bravery, 

for the creature had been so persistent, had been so angry,

had been causing all kinds of grief and panic and disorder in the little boy's life. 

perhaps it was time for the boy to face this creature and have a talk. 

this is what big kids were expected to do, wasn't it?

& so they talked. 

the little boy threw up many times because of his nerves 

and the creature kept shaking and huffing with fury because he was rapidly losing his grasp, 

and they both cried tears of heartbreak because they knew this was goodbye. 

this was goodbye because it was time to go. 

a boat appeared and the boy knew. 

yes, a demon, but the boy had loved his demon. 

it was perfectly and uniquely his own furry creature. 

the creature was familiar and the creature was always there. 

and all the creature wanted to do was keep things how they had always been. 

he didn't want change at all. he didn't want to deal with all those messy things

that intervened with the heart or the brain. 

but something inside the little boy, a faint light, something intangible 

but with deep resonance, made the boy think otherwise. 

you see, he was unhappy. but this light, 

this light helped him invision something different;

something better. 

and, as hard as it was to fully verbalize, 

the boy finally said to his oldest friend:

"you're not something different, you're not something better!"

and threw sobs and tears

(it was hard to deciper at this point whether the salt water was from the sea or from their eyes)

the little boy said: "it's time to go! it's time to go because I want something different, and I want something better."

so then he got into the boat and waved goodbye. 

but the demon didn't move. 

the demon didn't wave goodbye. 

all that fuss. all that sobbing. 

but the actual goodbye part was surprisingly very undramatic. 

the little boy was determined and the demon just sat quietly. 

the little boy had made the decision, truly made it, 

and so there was nothing more the demon could do. 

the little boy started rowing, and this was the hardest part.

yes, he had cried, and he had said what he had had to say 

& that was so scary to do, he thought, 

but once it passed it was like he was as light as a feather. 

this rowing, this is the hard part, he thought. 

my oldest friend used to do all the rowing, but now I have to do it, he said.

"Pooh!" he exclaimed, shaking his hands, since they had gotten sore from rowing. 

Then, for a brief second he turned back and saw his friend; 

that familiar creature was still sitting on the shore. 

the demon was waiting. 

the demond hadn't moved.

"Does he think I'm coming back?" thought the little boy. 

He pondered for a moment...

what life would be like if he just jumped out of the boat and went back. 

It would be so easy!

He thought, "well maybe it'd be nice. it's everything that I'm used to, after all."

Then, "Well maybe I really didn't mean all those things I said back there on the shore! Maybe I was just really upset and didn't really mean those things!"

He was just about to swim back, 

because "why not?" he thought to himself, 

after all he was so tired and sore from rowing. 

but then up ahead he saw the sun:

a single shaft of bright golden light poking through the clouds. 

& then that made him remember his own light:

that one buried deep inside somewhere, 

the one that was faint but that he had felt so intensely. 

& when he remembered that light, 

he remembered that he had other things to do. 

other places to be, 

other friends to meet. . . 

he remembered he had better things to do than the same ole, same ole.