Nightwalkers
It’s a word that used to give me the heebies, hell, even a little bit of the jeebies.
Picture this tall formidable shadow man with long arms, creepily long fingers
(finger-swords feel applicable here), stalking around neighborhoods in the darkness, looking for someone to creep up on and take.
That’s a bonified Nightwalker.
Nightwalkers don’t eat or kill anyone, they just take.
Scoop.
Steal.
They make people and unsuspecting neighborhood dogs and cats just plain disappear.
“Hey, has anyone seen Steve?”
“Nightwalker got him.”
“Oh, no way. Damn. He did love his night walks.”
Of course as the sun starts to rise in the wee hours of the morning, the Nightwalkers vanish.
Sun is the enemy of the nightwalker. Sun is lava to the Nightwalker.
Nowadays, we have a new class of Nightwalkers among us.
They have a new look to them. They don’t lurk. They push strollers. They walk dogs.
They’re often seen chatting with a fellow Nightwalker, rehashing the daily news.
These Nightwalkers wear joggers.
They often have relatively nice Nikes on.
The Nightwalker men have hair on their faces and unkempt hair on their heads.
The Nightwalker women wear their hair in buns and their faces are well moisturized without a drop of makeup in sight.
The solo Nightwalkers give precedence to the Nightwalker duos, letting them have the sidewalk with a friendly nod of the head.
The Nightwalkers nowadays wear masks so you can’t see a smile, all you see is a smize.
They’re courteous, quiet, purposeful with each step they take.
They look at the trees. They point at the houses they wish they had. They point at the houses they know they could fix up and make way, way better.
The Nightwalkers LOVE sunsets, oh man, do they love sunsets. These Nightwalkers don’t fear the waning light, they soak it in.
The streets are filled with Nightwalkers, scattered here and there.
The masks are the uniform, the walking pace is a rhythm.
There’s unity as they all walk separately.
Well, would you look at that.
Another day has passed.
It is night.
So now, we walk.