When Stevie called at our house, just the other day, he quietly sipped his coffee and didn’t have much to say,
He steered the conversation to our childhood days and how he was scared of getting lost in the maze
“ Do you remember the maze?” he asked “The thing the old farmer made?””
“Of bushes and hay bales and wood.
I’d hate to get lost in the maze.”he said “I’d get out as soon as I could,”
Then Stevie posed a question, like he’d plucked it from the sky “ What frightens you the most? ”
I was stuck for a reply, so I smiled and blurted out “ Ghosts!.”.
Stevie stayed a bit longer and we poured ourselves a beer.
We toasted absent friends and some who were still near.
We talked about our childhood days and how we’d gone our separate ways.
Then Stevie talked some more about the maze.
Stevie said that some people could make it through their day and never meet an obstacle, nothing blocked their way, until they reached the finish line.
“The puzzle put to bed,” then he drew a deep breath and quietly he said
“Life is like a maze.”
“Some of us can’t figure it, cannot work it out, no matter how we struggle, no matter how we shout.”
Stevie said that on his darkest days, it felt like he was lost back in the maze.
Stevie said the twists and turns and endless one way streets meant he was a loser unable to compete and Stevie said that when he had those days, it was just like being lost inside the maze.
Remember when we were kids” he said “ Taking chances whilst admiring glances made those endless evenings full of fun.“We didn’t know our lives had just begun,”
“But life is full of obstacles,” he sighed,“ They stop you getting to the other side.”
You simply can’t remember how you reached the place you find yourself right now.
You don’t know when, you don’t know how.
We talked about the laughter and the tears and mused about the passing of the years.
Then Suddenly he said he could n’t stay, there was something that he had to do today.
He went and took his coat from off the hook, he smiled and stepped back to take a look.
Then Stevie shook me warmly by the hand, he said he had an early evening planned.
I did n’t hear from Stevie after that, until neighbour’s sent the Police round to his flat.
Sleeping pills he’d used to end his days, to help him find his way out of the maze.