Fade In: a Man Running is an allegory by Jack Rusher, published here Wednesday, December 01, 2004. It is part of Stories.
Get a move on.
1.
He is running, running from- and running to-, with motion the dominant metaphor in his life. He chases the ever-receding shadow of the person he might have been if his parents had stayed together, lived a normal life and sent him to good schools, running from the person he was when he was younger, angrier, less able to feel anything for other human beings.
2.
He trips over himself, the body of yesterday stretched lifeless and dead across the path to tomorrow.
3.
Resting, panting, holding his sides, he waits for the light to change color and signal him on. He waits for the light; he wants to move forward but also hopes to rest longer in this comfortable place — running is hard and he is tired. The light changes from red to yellow, signaling him to begin moving slowly, but it changes back to red before his foot touches the tarmac.
4.
It is night. Collapsed, hungry and more tired than he has ever been, he crawls towards a nearby café. Traffic swerves around his prone body. Finally, fingernails bloody, he reaches the door to the café only to find that it is shut for the night.