10.
You know the day destroys the night
Night divides the day
Tried to run
Tried to hide
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side, yeah
We chased our pleasures here
Dug our treasures there
But can you still recall
The time we cried
Break on through to the other side
Break on through to the other side
- The Doors, "Break on Through"
The paramedics removed a few splinters of glass from my palm. Then they cleaned and bandaged the cut for me.
They wanted me to go to the emergency room to get a few stitches, but I refused. They argued, but they couldn't take me to the hospital against my will, so eventually they gave up and left, telling me to take it easy.
The bartender poured me into the cab. He told me to take it easy, too. I smiled at him and sat obediently in the back seat, my hands folded on my lap.
The flicker of lights and the hiss of tires on asphalt were almost hypnotic. I watched the world go by for a while.
We passed my former apartment. I leaned forward. "I'll get out here," I told the cabbie.
He glanced over his shoulder at me. "The man said to take you to your hotel," he said. He didn't slow down.
I thought for a moment.
Then I reached into my purse, opened my wallet, and handed over all of the cash I had on me without even bothering to count it. "Stop here," I repeated.
The man looked at the money. Then he looked at me. Then he looked at the money again.
Thirty seconds later, I was standing on a sidewalk just outside of the park.
The taxi pulled away. "Thank you!" I called after him. Then I laughed. Whether or not my hunch about the picture frame was right, I suspected that I'd just made some cabbie's month. Maybe even his year.
Of course, if my hunch wasn't right, I'd just given away the last of my ready cash for nothing.
I shrugged and started walking.
As I walked, I fished the shard of glass out of my purse and unwrapped it. It flickered as I passed beneath a streetlamp.
The picture frame was still there. No one else was nearby.
I flopped down on the grass, heavily. My thoughts swam around at random in my liquor-addled brain.
The wind ruffled my hair. The park felt so different at night. I felt like I was the only person alive for miles.
I twined my fingers in the grass and plucked a few blades loose. I chose the prettiest one and let the others fall.
Then, after a few false starts, I managed to clamber to my feet.
I stood in front of the picture frame, swaying.
I saw more grass and more trees on the other side, and beyond them I saw shadows.
I wondered what the hell I thought I was doing.
Then I wondered why it mattered. It wasn't as if I had anything left to lose.
I held the shard of broken glass in my left hand, and the blade of grass in my right.
Then, my eyes fixed on the far trees, I stepped forward.
The world winked out like a light.