Tunnel

The longest road to nowhere lead me to a tunnel.  Darkness enveloped me.  Cold, damp air fills my lungs.  I've been wandering in here so long I can't remember how it feels when a ray of sunlight warms my skin.  My legs are tired and weary.  I lay down and dream of a different place.  Sunny days fill my mind.  Rolling hills as far as my eye can see in one direction and in the other a shore line.  I hear the  seagulls and the waves crashing against the beach.  I can feel the breeze as it moves by me, brushing the hair on my arms.  I reach out to touch the amber waves beside me but as my hand stretches out toward them, they move further away.  I try to violently grab the wheat and wake myself in the process.  I am alone and confused.  It takes me a few moments to get my barrings, to remember where I am.  Every time I lay down I am hopeful.  Hopeful that this place is really a dream that I will finally awaken from.  I think that tomorrow will be different, that my luck will change.  Tomorrow will be when day and time once again have meaning and matter... but tomorrow never comes.  Each day is the same.  The waiting, the hoping, the frustration, the bitterness... it exhausts me.  I see a ray of light squeeze through a crack in the concrete.  Is it real or do I see it because I long so badly to see it?  I spirit towards it, water from the puddles on ground splash against my legs.  I run and run but I am no closer.  It isn't real... it doesn't exist.  Tired and angry, I again lay down on my back.  I stare up at the dark ceiling and imagine it is the night sky.  I pretend there are stars shining down on me.  Again I am hopeful.  Tomorrow will be different.  Tomorrow will be the day that my luck changes.  Tomorrow I will make it out of this forsaken tunnel and once again experience the sunlight.

Tomorrow