Page 60 - 2019 Priory MUSE Magazine

Desire to Dream by Ewon Suh
I strayed down the longingly familiar path, passing beneath trailing willow branches which traced their way across my face, the dew-tipped leaves cold against my skin. The night was dull, the distant glaring lights ofcivilization flickered across the ink black lake. Yet I knew I was miles away from the nearest city. The sky glowed an unnatural shade, heavy with smog and sluggish with artificial fluorescence. I wouldn't be able to see any stars here.
I walked the achingly nostalgic street, hands in my pockets, a cool mist clinging to my skin as I went, staring at the ground ahead. Lights passed in the fog beside me, those of glaring lamps and flitting insects. Plastic smiles were cut into the faces ofthe people I passed. Absent, empty words exchanged as courtesy, well wishes with no meaning, and farewells with only the concept oftime in mind. After all, everyone was busy, busy, busy.
I climbed the staircase, taking in memories from the cold railing in my hands. The chill crept through my body, yet I kept climbing. Taking the stairs one at a time, my eyes drifted over the unfeeling cityscape, the high rising towers and the dark alleyways. Angry shouts
accompanied the harsh bite of a cold wind. The monotonous sight didn’t seem to change no matter how far I walked. Then, as I was beginning to become used to it, I reached the top of the stairs.
I took the same subway I always did. Sleet flitted past the window leaving gray streaks, as the machine rumbled over the set path laid out in iron. Few other people shared the compartment with me. An old man laying on his side, wrapped in patched clothes and scarves over and over, wearing an angry, melancholic expression, even in sleep. A young woman, dutifully clutching her phone, jaded beyond her years. I lay my head against the cool glass, choosing to stare outside, rather than inwards.
I stood in front ofa simple white door that I knew all too well. It was a choice to open it. I could easily walk away, back down that dimly lit hallway, melt back intothecrowdsofthecitythatfilledthe streets and none would be the wiser. I could leave and forget the door, and partake in blissful ignorance as one ofthe world. And so, nothing would change. I turned the key. The lights were out. An empty table, cleared of dishes stood in the
58