Standing on top of the mountains, away from the state of chaos our nation has become, while observing the darkest nights of the souls that have befallen our great country. A home that was once known as the ‘land of freedom, and home of the brave,’ has turned overnight to be uncertain and unstable. The bravery and freedom that once set us apart from others have now been covered by the darkest night of the souls. Helplessness, hopelessness, lawlessness, fear, crime, cries, blood of the innocent, and economic hardship have covered the entire nation. Shots fired! Shot fired! When I got down from the mountain to find out what had just happened and, upon looking to my right-hand side, it was Renee Good who got shot and killed inside her car by a man wearing a face mask. ‘Stupid bitch,’ he called the woman he killed in broad daylight.
Then, I looked to the left upon hearing an infant crying. Oh, what happened? Why is the baby crying so hard and can’t open his eyes? I asked. ‘My one-year-old baby has been pepper-sprayed by that officer walking away,’ a Hispanic mother explained in a helpless, distressful tone while holding her infant and trying to fight off her own pepper spray and that of her child. Overwhelmed by the state of things, I turned around to go back to the mountain, only to hear a young lady saying, ‘How the hell is my BGE bill $469.97 this month, and I live by myself and am gone all day?’ Hearing her question saddened my heart because I know that we are living in a time where rents, water, BGE, internet, and food are high, with low employment opportunities and income.
We are living in the darkest nights of the souls, I reminded myself while walking back to the mountain with a deep desire and wish that all this was a bad nightmare that I would and could wake up from the next day, but it isn’t; this is our current reality, I said to myself while standing on top of the mountain. How long will the darkness take to overshadow the magic of light? Where are we going from here? And who will save us from these darkest nights of our souls that have taken over? Bring back our true identity of being the ‘land of the brave, one nation under God, with liberty and justice for all.’ I screamed on top of my lungs while still standing on top of the mountain, but no one could hear or see me because they were being shot at, while others were being thrown inside black SUVs by men in face masks to an unknown destination.
‘Hey! Hey! Stop it! Where are you taking them to? They are from here but with foreign accent!’ I yelled again and again, but still, no one could see or hear me because of the state of our darkest night of the souls.