Songs of Innocence

The track extended into darkness in either direction. I closed my eyes. When the light came, I didn’t want to see it.

How had this happened? How?

I’d been a decent, normal person once. A good person.

I thought I heard a rumble, felt the slight hint of a tremor in the rail.

I’d been an idealist once. What had Julie called me? An innocent. A goddamn innocent.

The tremor built, and I felt a fluttering breeze on my cheeks.

I thought: I was a human being once.

But then we’ve all been things we aren’t anymore.