The man stood on his porch in the dark. It was always dark here, but he liked standing on the porch looking out into that inky blackness. Not for any particular reason, he mused, deflecting himself from the true reason for his regular vigils.
He lived alone, as, he assumed, did everyone else. It was pretty impossible to go out and meet people, no one could see anything out there. But he did know that there were people out there, he spoke to them on the Network, he connected to them and they all shared their own similar experiences of this place, they all danced around the word he dared not say. The word that would describe his aloneness. He dare not say it, lest he shine an impossible light on it, giving it no quarter to hide.
So he stood out here. It wasn’t cold, or hot, it was pretty comfortable despite the stark lack of illumination. He would stand there, sometimes with a drink, just staring out in the nothing, eyes darting back and forth not looking at anything, but always looking for something.
He was standing on his porch when it happened, it was subtle, he barely noticed it at first. But it soon became blindingly obvious, as a massive ball of fire arose to his left, it made a slow lazy arc across the sky, it was so bright it illuminated everything!
He could now see out beyond his porch, he could see other houses! He could see other people! They were just now coming out of their houses and looking towards the sky.
He rushed over to the nearest one, exclaiming excitedly as he got there, “I can see you!”
His neighbour turned, her smile almost as bright as the fire ball. “I can see you too!”
“May I, uh,” he ventured, “Give you a hug?”
“Oh! Please!” she said smiling, coming down from her porch towards him. He reached out and embraced her, his first human contact in… He didn’t know how long he’d been here, well it was a long time.
He and his neighbour went to the next house and more smiles and more hugs ensued. Then the next with more and so on, until soon there was a huge crowd of people standing around excitedly talking and touching and hugging. Sharing in a sense of community that they’d all been craving but that the Network, as good as it is, was unable to provide.
He wasn’t sure who noticed it first, but it became apparent that the light was waning, the fire ball had nearly reached the far horizon. Soon, as quickly as it came, it would be gone and they’d all be in darkness once more.
They all shared their tears, fears, and goodbyes, and parted, most reluctantly, to return to their houses, none of them sure they’d ever see each other again.
He arrived at his house just as the fireball dipped below the horizon, painting the sky in brilliant yellows, oranges, and pinks. It was stunning.
Soon darkness would fall, and he didn’t know if he’d ever see the light again. It came into his life in a brilliant flash of light and was gone again the same. It provided him with a greater sense of connection than he’d ever had, and may never have again. Despite how short a time it was in his life, he was just happy it came at all.
Later he stood on his porch once more, but this time he shouted out into that black and waited…