Hello My Old Friend

Hello Darkness,

It still amazes me how our relationship has developed over the years. When we first met, you terrified me. I was just a child and didn’t understand how you could exist everywhere I went, and everyplace I looked. You slept under my bed. You hid in closets patiently waiting for me to open the door. When I closed my eyes, I saw you. When I awoke from a bad dream, you wrapped yourself around me. I tried to convince my parents that you were bad and they needed to protect me from you. Instead of offering me solace, they sent me back to my room, where you waited for me uncomplainingly.

As I grew older, I learned to tolerate your omnipresence. We still were not friends. At least I didn’t feel that we were, but I learned to accept the fact that you were always going to be in my life. I’m not sure why I feared you? Maybe what I feared wasn’t you, but the things you might be hiding from my eyes. All the creatures that scurry on the ground and fly through the sky uninhabited by your all-encompassing cloak of blackness.

Time continued its march forward, and I progressed with it. My life was no longer that of a timid young boy. I developed into a brash teenager ready to take on the world. My knowledge increased and with it came an understanding of your relationship with the light of day. The constant tug-of-war between the two of you for dominance over the earth must be exhausting, but you never relent. I admire you for your unwavering persistence.

Using your cloak of anonymity, I felt free to join my peers as we experimented with all the pleasures life offered. Daytime was for rules and proper behavior. Under your tutelage, I was able to find my true self. I knew I could trust you to never reveal the extent of my eccentricities. Our sacred pact remains to this day.

Then came the war. It started because people would talk at each other without listening to one another. Each side indifferently preached their truths without considering the other’s point of view. Neither side would admit they may be wrong. The only way for them to resolve their differences was to destroy the opposition.

Once again, you were there to protect me as I fought for my side. I buried myself deep into your darkness and breathlessly waited for my enemy to approach. There was no struggle for survival, no battle for dominance. They had no chance as I sprung from your blackness and cut them to shreds. The scene repeated during each engagement with the carnage increasing as my proficiency with weapons grew.

In the beginning, the metallic smell of freshly spilled blood and the sight of internal organs strewn on the ground made me retch in disgust. Your compassionate side rushed to my aid and cloaked the scene in obscurity. People continued to hear only their point of view and I continued to kill. My revulsion for the sight of blood transformed into a lust for it. The smell, the sight, yes, even the taste of blood drove me forward, finally transforming me into what I am today.

The war has finally ended, but we remain. Time will continue its journey as will we, my dear friend. There will be more people talking without listening and their silence will grow like a cancer into more wars. My thirst will continue to be quenched as long as you are there by my side. Should the unthinkable happen and a stake is driven through my heart, I will rest easy knowing that you will have me wrapped tightly in your arms.

Your friend for eternity,

Vlad the Impaler (aka Count Dracula)