A Craving for Chocolate Cake

A lull of voices drifts in from another room, and it feels like another world. Like it’s somewhere I’m separated from, like something I’ll never know for myself. The clock ticks steadily on; across the room the face never changes, the hands never cease their steady rhythm. My window is dark but I can faintly see a star twinkling in the distance; I wish it were summer and the crickets were out, and the air cooled to a pleasant breeze. I remember those days when I would sit outside and just listen to the crickets- listen to the birds that sing in the night- the sound of insects buzzing and the smell of fresh-cut grass. But my imagination fails me, and the poignancy of those memories evaporate all too quickly. And here I am again, sitting here in this quiet. No wind, no crickets, no stars. Just me and the quiet; the lull of the voices in the background. And a craving for chocolate cake.