The Empty Chair

“Empty Chair”

By Mckinly Tayag

On one sunny day, Claire decided to go out to breathe some fresh air because she thought and hoped that her life was a mess and that some fresh air might be able to freshen her mind up, and free her from any arising trouble yet again at that moment. She was just minding her business and was all about herself. The birds up on the branches chirping didn't seem to bother her for her life's knots are deafening enough for her to even bother to give a damn about the beautiful noises that the birds were making. She was pacing back and forth and a dog with a collar with a name “Sunshine” engraved on it came to her and she seemed to have stopped her pacing and looked at the beautiful, beamy collar and her face seemed to have stolen a smile. Suddenly, she thought that maybe that was it. That even If life is filled with gloomy and saddening dark clouds, sunshine still has a way to beam through them. She started to tilt her head up to the sky and hoped that the sun would too shine on her, but then the opposite happened. She saw that the clouds seemed to be gathering and getting darker and darker, then the rain started to eventually pour onto her. She then thought before going toward a chair that had a roof above it that what she was saying in her mind, coming from her warm heart, was just totally lame. That this is it. That life is just filled with tricks and tricks you into hoping again and again until you lose your sunshine and the dark clouds just got to cover your warm sun until you are no more seen. Not even by you. By your optimistic eyes. She tilted her head back, and yet again, her mind started to be filled with those disheartening thoughts that filled her a while ago. The sun wasn't shining upon her. No one and nothing was gonna make her feel in jubilance again. So she just thought of giving up on everything. 

Then came a woman, a woman who was also just like her. Desolate and hopeless as what she saw in her eyes. They both stared into each other's eyes from across the abandoned street, and saw that they both had made mistakes. Mistakes that tremendously differ from each other but had the same effect upon them. Their eyes glancing at each other, sympathising and seem to be talking with one another. 

“What did I do to myself, to my life?”

“What did she do to herself, with her life?”

“What happened to her, to her life?”

“What happened to me, to my life?”

They stared at each other until the colloquy of their eyes had ended and yet again, Clare stared at the chair. She thought about taking a seat in that chair so that she wouldn't get drenched in the dreariness of today. She thought about giving it to the woman from the other side of the street. They both thought for a while and Clare came to a decision of taking a seat in the empty chair. She ran as fast as she could thinking that the woman was also running to the seat. Clare was running in fear, thinking that it might be her only chance to get home without, soaking wet in sadness. But then the woman didn't seem to move, not even a bit. The woman gave her a smile on the sly and looked up to the sky and at last back to the wet surface. 

“What am I doing?”

“I have a chance to take that seat, so why shouldn't I take it?”

She felt guilty. She thought that just because she has a chance to take something, she just takes and takes. She thought that it wasn't just her who had a chance to take that seat. The woman from across her had it as well. They both had. At least that's what she thought. For The woman didn't seem to care to even take that chance. Not giving it a second though, Clare decided to offer the seat to the woman before she was about to get drenched. Before someone was able to take it from her. Before someone was able to deprive it from her. Before life was about to thwart her from getting what's for her. At last, the birds once again started chirping till the beautiful noises travelled into their ears, and the rays of sunshine beamed through the clouds that were once gloomy and the sun had shone upon both of them. Whether they took the chance to sit there or not. Whether they both had got the chance or not. And whether they got poured upon with gloominess of today. 

             -THE END-