The sound of fluorescent lights buzzing surrounded me this sound was only made apparent through our silence. The awful sound of silence had bothered me enough for me to strike up a conversation with a coworker and a good acquaintance named Steve. 

“Almost got hit by a truck on the walk over here.”

“Huh.”

“That’s it, Steve? 

Just a huh.”  

“What do you want me to say? I wasn’t driving the bloody thing.”

“A human response would be fucking nice.”

Silence fell upon the two of us as we stood next to the damn water cooler. 

The sound of water drops dripping mixed with the fluorescent lights buzzing. As if my surroundings were trying to create a band.

The temperature that was dropping outside was seeping into the building, causing my feet to feel like ice had slipped within my bloodstream, but only within the feet.  

Steve's face contorted in a way that showed his confusion. 

And spoke, “Don’t you own a motorcycle? 

Why were you walking?”

“The roads were icy, and I didn’t feel like breaking my neck to get to this place,” I replied.

“Oh yeah, forgot about that…”

A silence took in once more, but Steve took a look at a calendar hanging on a cubicle and took control of the conversation. 

“Hey… Isn’t it your birthday today?”

“Hm… I guess it is. Thirty-two, I believe. Time stops for no man, so they say.”

“Says who?”

“Who knows?”

“Who’s on first?”

“Oh, shut up.”

There was a small chuckle between the two of us.

“Want to grab something after work?”

“If you're paying, then I’m in.”

“How about half?”

“Fine, but when my time comes around, you better do the same.”

“Sure thing, you cheap bastard.”

“You’re as cheap as me, and we both know that.”

“You're right, you're right.”

I took a glance at the clock and pulled out my pocket watch to check that the clock was right.

“Looks like it’s time to put the nose back.”

“Well, see you at dinner.” 

“Yeah, see you later.”

My mind starts to drift while pushing papers.

About my bitterness towards winter. Whether it comes from my birth residing in it or something else, who's to say? Well, I guess winter starts on the twenty-fifth of December, not the fourteenth. But I always believe that winter starts early. Whenever it gets too cold, I stop believing it's fall. 

I gotta figure out where to head. I’ve heard good things about a Korean buffet place nearby; we could go there. 

Funny, isn’t it?

Korea and Japan never had a good relationship. Saw Man Behind the Sun back in the day; pretty messed up. Well, history is messed up, filled with disgusting chaos, but that's just history. 

And everyone is always fixated on being on the right side, never figuring out that morality will never be fixed, for all time, forever being made to suit man's whims. 

My mind continued to drift from one topic to another till a good five long hours passed. 

The workday had ended, and Steve and I went out on the streets of Tokyo. Screens lit up the grey skyscrapers, trying to sell you something. With the Tokyo Tower piercing the sky, the sky that was once believed to be the heavens. 

“So where are we going?”

“There’s a Korean barbecue buffet nearby. And I’m both hungry and feel like drinking a lot.”

“On a Wednesday.”

“Yeah, being hungover isn’t too bad if you just force yourself not to feel it.”

“That is not how pain works.”

“Well, I'll make it work that way.”

“Crazy bastard.”

“Yeah, well, let’s get going. I haven’t had a damn thing all day.”

The sun was setting over the country of the rising sun. I chuckled a bit over such a stupid joke that always crosses my mind.

We entered the restaurant, and we were hit with the smell of cheap booze and good meat. With the lingering smell of stale cigarettes, but that goes for any good bar here in this city. A waitress took us to an open table, and we took a seat. We looked over the menus and ordered our food and drinks.

While waiting for our saké and meat, we struck up a conversation.

“So how have the pits of hell been?”

“Same old, feel like I’m stuck in Tartarus rolling up a damn boulder.”

“Once again, you and Sisyphus. What is with you and him?” 

“I read The Myth of Sisyphus by Camus, and it never left my mind.”

“You must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

“Yeah, yeah, that's the one.”

Our booze and meat arrived at our table, and with a sizzler, we started our feast.

While we threw back our drinks and food as much as our stomachs dared to hold, and even more after that, I asked Steve.

“What have you been doing over there in Tartarus?”

“Same as you, but I’ve been reading about these weird disappearances in my free time. See, these reports say that throughout time, there have been these lights that just appear out of nowhere, and the person under them just vanishes.”

“What the hell have you been smoking over there?”

“Just the Devil's lettuce.”

“Well, what did they lace it with?” 

We took a glance at each other.

And had ourselves a good chuckle. 

“Still pretty goddamn weird though.”

“It’s probably just some people lying for personal gain.”

“Such a cynic.”

“Just the way I am.”

We continued to talk, drink, and eat. 

My pessimism about my own birth loosened its grip just a bit.

But nothing good stays too long, so they say.  

With our meal finished, we walked out with a good buzz. I pulled out my pocket watch and checked the time.

10:40.

“Let’s call it a night, my friend.”

“Yeah, have a good one… Oh, I almost forgot.”

Steve rummaged through his pockets and threw a golden Zippo lighter over to me.

“I remember you saying something about losing your old one, and I couldn’t figure out anything else to get you so there.”

“Thank you, Steve. 

Have a good night.”   

“You too.”

We waved far away and went our separate ways, returning to our homes. 

On my walk home, I held the lighter to a street light, finding there was writing on the lighter base.

"The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike; The devil will come, and Faustus must be damned." — from Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.

That cheeky bastard.

I chuckled a bit to myself in that frozen land.

A city is never quiet, but tonight seemed like I was the only man on Earth.

The sky that was clear only a bit ago was now covered in a layer of clouds. Nimbostratus clouds (the dark/grey clouds), if I remember correctly. 

Snowflakes start to fall upon me. I always like the day after a good amount of snow, the beauty of it all, before I have to go out there and freeze my ass off. The land of pure white is so blending that I’m thankful I keep sunglasses on.

I doubt there will be that much snow. Well, I can’t wait to see it tomorrow.

I put on a song for myself to fill this endless silence.

“The past seems realer than the present to me now,

I've got memories to last me,

When the sky is gray, 

The way it is today, 

I remember the times that I was happy.

Same old sun,

Same old moon,

It's the same old story, 

Same old tune. 

They all say Someday soon, 

My sins will all be forgiven. 

Gentle rain,

 Falls on me, 

All life folds back, 

Into the sea. 

We contemplate eternity, 

Beneath the vast indifference of heaven.”

—(The Indifference of Heaven live at by Warren Zevon at Biskuithalle, Bonn, Germany.)

Good old Warren Zevon, the best that ever was. He died too soon; well, only the good do.

My eyes were once more drawn to the sky. I wasn’t sure why; I just knew I should look.

Well, there was a bright light that cut through the gray of the cloud and the black abyss of the sky. 

In total, three formed across the city, and then there was one on me.

“Well, Steve, I guess you were right.”

A feeling that I could only explain as if a thousand cuts all over my body happened within a millisecond. They all felt so familial but distant at the same time. As if they were echoes of the future.

My mind couldn’t comprehend what had happened, so instead of a screech or a yell, I just stood there in immense pain.

The blinding yellow that seemed stolen from the sun surrounded me.

In both my pain and confusion, I stood there like a deer in headlights (excuse the cliché simile).  

With that, an explosion of white light surrounded me; the next thing I heard was that of a bird chirping, and the taste of dirt filled my mouth.