Wolves & Horses; In The City That Never Sleeps
by Zachary Franck
January 2010
What are you to do when you are finally able to see life for what its worth? Well, I guess it depends on the fine print of the situation, it always does. Whether it’s in a positive or negative aspect, well.. that’s completely up to you. Are moments in life really priceless or are they just worthless? Does life equate to nothing in the end, are we are all just living to die?
Everybody has to pay in life no matter how much theirs is worth. Pay, meaning being put in difficult situations along with facing physical and mental pain. This occurs to everyone no matter if they’re a kind, responsible person or a cold- hearted, downright mean individual.Me, personally, I’ve seen what my life is worth, up to this point at least. Well not my entire life, simply the past seventeen years. I’ve graciously experienced one of these moments that I have now begun to write about. Actually, I’ve experienced numerous moments and they’ve all led me to further understand what my life is worth.
So there we were, sitting in an empty train-car without a care in the world, the weed was wearing off and the opiates were kicking in; the scenery passed us by as our lives pushed and pulled on what was left of our souls. We drank cheap liquor and even cheaper beer, besides the round trip tickets we used the little money that we had left to buy some culture. Some culture, for the simple fact that kids like us need something to hold onto. Something to remind us what our lives are worth during specific moments on a day like this. Although it was toward the end of January the temperature had fought like hell to remain in the low forties, a well-fought fight that we were much appreciative for. Our senses were ecstatic as our mind-states’ slowly vacated any room for responsibility.Buildings surrounded as their shadows engulfed us. The provocative winds chased us down blocks and up streets, we finally stopped running and accepted them as unwanted guests.We were teenagers from upstate but we had bloodshot eyes and high-top nikes so blending in was not a problem. To us this was paradise, a change of surroundings, this was our “Narnia“, we were our own fairytale.The sidewalks felt accepting, I could walk down these streets forever. My friends were along side of me and my emotions were over-flowing; Now that I think about it, all of our emotions were over-flowing. Splashing out of every orifice on our bodies out onto the sidewalk below us. The billboards screamed silently for our attention, our attention is what they got. The next five blocks were walked as if we were wearing blindfolds; our heads were to the sky as our eyes were glued to what looked down upon us.The sun slowly disappeared into the clear night sky. I was fully aware yet un-capable of deciding weather or not it was a good thing. I was caught somewhere in between my observation and thought. It was here that I removed myself from the situation; I was no standing longer on 8th and 33rd,neither was I in the middle of a conversation with my friends. My mind had taken me away from that significant moment and brought me to an utter vantage point. From here everything seemed different, everything seemed so perfect yet so real.
The sun had now completely vanished into the night and yet our vision was still intact. It was at this moment that a euphoric feeling came through my body and forced me to come to an idealistic realization. The realization that a single city has the ability to subjugate something so powerful as the sun, an object that has the ability to stop everything in it’s absence and start everything in it’s return. Life also possesses such power as the sun, it can easily control you if you let it; Yet a single moment has the ability to over-ride something so powerful as life.Five minutes passed and I stood in the same spot smiling, happy to have experienced such a moment in the city that never sleeps.
