Lagoon Nights

When the moon shined above the lagoon, and the starlight was diminished by its aura, the old man stepped out of his hut to have a quite time in the middle of the night. He was the only security guard to the isolated establishment on the edge of the lagoon. Yet, his bones were quite weak that even a teenager would overcome by brute force if he was in a fight. What was he guarding anyway? But he on the other hand should have been on the retirement yet could not as he was pushed against the wall by the society. He could not survive without the few dollars of salary he was given for his duty of guarding nothing.

Starry night

The hotel was little busy today as customers poured in after sun went down. All of a sudden he became an important person, from guarding of nothing to Car park assistant. Yet he did not like the feel of lot of people. Once they went in it was quite solitary again. Looking at the darkness of mangrove hideouts, he was lost in a world of thoughts separated and isolated from what's happening outside.

He loved the boredom. He was even proud of his boredom. He wasnt afraid of it. Occationally he wished some company. And nature did grant his wishes by providing some movement. In water, a solitary dog or a cry of an owl made him stop his stream of thoughts and come back to present. There was no specific thing that he thought about. The life he had experienced was behind, now just a memory. He was too old to be bothered about the past, and future seemed a little short. Hence he valued the empty solitude of present. It was the gift of nature for the tiring past of his former younger enthusiastic self.

Jelly fish

While he was at his peak of alertness he was bothered by the group of young visitors. Half drunk half sleepy half stressed, they seemed the exact representation of his past. The opportunity to observe them made him smile. The boys did not like the silence. Infact they seemed to be afraid of it, making noise, whistling and talking aloud like they are the only ones alive. Like they are the center of the universe tonight. But the old man knew that wasn't the case. The center of the universe doesn't revolve around any individual. Only a lifelong observer like himself would know this. But telling it to these man kids is not something he dared to do. As he exactly knew how idiotic these young minds with huge expectations work. He couldn't afford any fight, verbal or other. Hence he maintained his silence within the noise. Yet he couldn't stop overhearing what they were saying. And he could summarise it in three words "money women work" maybe not exactly but occasionally about food and travel as well. He listened for a while and for the 1000th time he was hearing the same discussion, he himself had in the past. Ah, they should figure it out themselves. The trap of the life would not allow them to leave the comfort of their circle. They would not dare isolate themselves in the dark like he does. So, the deep lessons are yet to learn for these young men. And they would just leave when it's too sleepy, and he would embrace the silence again, although now temporarily hidden, he knew its still there.

By the lagoon

Instead he took a walk, towards the lagoon. Maybe he will meet a crocodile or some fish. The water is fresh even he could see tiny fish. He saw a jellyfish with his torch, struggling with its hundred paws. Just like him, maybe its spending last few moments of its jelly fish life. Maybe it doesn't need to explore the lagoon anymore as there are nothing interesting. Maybe it is also looking for an eternal rest in the chaotic noise of the highway of sealife. He did not know. Its not like that anything is true as jellyfish consciousness is not so advanced.

Old man figured out that the universe has come to its baseline level. Silence is back there, and its just passed the midnight. The moon is still shining. Man kids are nowhere now. He went back to his plastic chair to be isolated with his heartbeat in the colder part of the night. Maybe get some sleep. Who is the fool going to rob this night anyway?