A LUCILIUS PARABLE: NO TIME IS NOW

January 23rd, 2022

Lucilius felt a pressure on one of his shoulders, but it slid off. Some clatter in the room filled his ears and then a new pressure on the thigh. Two pressures. A wavering tone and gurgle accompanied the clatter, and the lobe of his ear tightened, squeezed.

The breath filled his lungs, and he felt the cool ether of it slide through the channels of his face and neck, down into his chest.

But weight pushed down on his chest, as his shoulders wavered askance. His scalp pinched in a thousand small places as his hair yanked at the skin.

The breath flowed out from him, as another crash ricocheted from another part of the room.

His hair yanked in a different place and the weight on his tilted shoulders nearly pulled him off balance, but the muscles of his torso were strong from recent work, and it was easy to hold his posture.

A pull clamped around his neck, but again, the muscles of his back were solid, and his gentle posture easily supported the strange weight.

His breathe filled him once more, as a stray thought about the patterns and colors and events of yesterday filled his mind. He smiled slightly as he released the thought.

A piercing pitch sliced into his ear, but Lucilius remained as he was, simply sitting and breathing.

The tiny ding of a bell sounded and Lucilius opened his eyes. He looked down, and sitting in his lap was a little boy - a toddler, naked aside from a diaper, covered in marker.  The toddler looked up at Lucilius and a big smile filled his little face and his round eyes.

“HI!”, announced the little boy.