A Man And His Paradise

Paradise

Has anyone found it? This question constantly plagued the young man as he was lying down on his bed.  It’s so quiet tonight. As if there is no noise. Many thoughts like these, rolled through the man’s head as he looked out the window into the crystal clear sky.

It’s so peaceful. So quiet. I enjoyed the night time far more than the day. Some nights I spend the entire time awake. Because of this I had become almost nocturnal in my sleeping habits. Sleeping some of the day away, awaking sometimes earlier than normal for me to look after animals, or to check the crops. I used to spend the days awake with those I loved. I sighed as I remember them.

Most of my family had passed away. My father had left and was never heard from again. My brother Doug was shot during the war. My mother had passed away from overuse of drugs in her system. I had no one left to live with. So I simply lived by myself now. Barely, growing the food I needed, and hunting in the forest nearby for meat and whatever else I needed. It was hell trying to get the food before the winter months settled in. But worth it in the end

I smiled a bit, not for many days now, have I spent a night like this awake. The night time always calmed me. The feeling when it happened was impossible to describe. Almost like someone was watching over me. I always wrote it off as nothing. But I secretly hoped that somewhere out there she was watching over me.

Sighing, I stopped leaning on my balcony, and went into my room, passing family portraits along the way, one of my mother, brother and myself in Hawaii. another of them before the war. On our farm, life was simple on the farm. Get up, work, eat then sleep. I stopped before one portrait. This one of a young girl, she had blond hair and blue eyes. She was lying underneath the oak tree on the farm, smiling at the clear blue sky. One word was swimming inside my head as I stared at that picture. “Olivia”.

I vividly remembered that day. For that was the day I had asked her if she wanted to live with me. She seemed to burst with excitement at the time. I weakly smiled as I looked at the picture on the wall. She was always smiling, always happy. Those times were the best in my life. And then it was torn away from me.

She had died during an accident. That was one of the most depressing things in my life. For during a trip up north, there was a freak storm, they said that it was too dark to see the road that night. Her car had swerved off the road, going front first into a tree. By the time I had got to the local hospital, she was gone. The doctors had said that she when she passed she didn’t feel any pain. I had almost followed her into the abyss then. A tear slowly made its way down my cheek, raising a hand I wiped it away and continued out of my room heading down the stairs.

Turning around the corner at the bottom of the stairs, I reached the door leading down to the basement. Calmly I grabbed a lantern from the wall and opened the door. After opening the door, I reached into a drawer and grabbed the matches to light the lantern. After doing so I calmly walked down the stairs.

Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I immediately went over to the generator to turn it off for the night. Plopping the lantern down beside me, I stared at the generator. “Never could figure this thing out.” I mumbled to myself. I started off by flipping a couple of the switches on the generators side. The darkness engulfed the room whenever I managed to flip the right one to turn it off. Sighing to myself, I then proceeded back up the stairs, replacing the lantern to where it belonged.

Heading back toward the stairs, I stopped at the front door. Remembering what I used to do on nights such as these. Either I would go to the computer to watch the newest episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. I wasn’t that much of a brony. Didn’t buy the merchandise or anything like that. Just watched the show, it was the only thing that got me to really laugh nowadays. Or I would stand outside and sing a lullaby towards the moon. I always used to think that Olivia or Princess Luna heard me sing to them. It also calmed me down when I felt agitated by something.

This was one such night I felt agitated by something, no idea what I had to be agitated about. Heading outside from the front door, I sat down on the porch. I started thinking about what lullaby to sing. Mulling it over for a couple minutes, I decided on the normal one that I always sung. One that I knew I could recite without fault. It was one of my favourite lullabies from the show. It was a particular lullaby by a yellow Pegasus with a pink mane. Clearing my throat he began.

“Hush now, quiet now

It's time to lay your sleepy head

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to go to bed

Drifting off to sleep

Exciting day behind you

Drifting off to sleep

Let the joy of dream land find you

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to lay your sleepy head

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to go to bed”

Sighing as I finished the timid Pegasus’s lullaby. I thought to myself. If only I knew that you heard me. I could at least live in peace then. I smiled weakly as I wiped more tears from my cheeks. I looked up towards the moon. Every since I was young I loved to stare at the moon. I had hoped that as usual it would calm me, tonight was different however. I didn’t feel at peace. I felt happy, truly happy. That was a feeling I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Touching my chest I felt the beat of my heart. Weird, I haven’t felt like this since I met Olivia.

Shrugging it off, I got up and went back inside. Turning the light off as I enter the house. I yet again passed the pictures of my loved ones as I climbed up the stairs. Again I stopped at the picture of Olivia. But only for a minute then I continued my trek upstairs. As I enter my room, I hear a sound from the door to the deck. Quickly writing it off I continued toward my bed, I’ll look into it tomorrow, not much I can do in the dark anyway. I thought to myself. I went to my bed turning the lamps off as I go. I lied down on the bed. Thinking that tonight I could drift off peacefully. I heard the sound again. The faintest of noises, almost sounded like a bird flapping its wings.

Huh, that’s weird. Did I leave the door to the deck open again, and did a bird get in? I got up slowly grabbing the bedpost as leverage to pull myself up. Heading toward the door, I looked casually towards the lock. Nope it’s locked. So what was that noise then? I calmly unlocked the door, opened it and headed outside for the second time that night.

What I saw when I stepped out was never in a million years did I think was possible. For sitting there, on the deck under the stars, was none other than the one I had sung to every night. There in all her glory and all her beauty was the Princess of the night. Princess Luna.

I just looked at her. Dumbfounded, my mind and heart saying I don’t believe it. What was even more interesting was that she hadn’t noticed me open the door out onto the deck.

I stood there for good two or three minutes before I finally thought of something to do. I did the only sensible thing in this situation. I coughed into my hand to get her attention. I saw the look of surprise in Luna’s face when she turned around. “I did not think you were real your Highness” I said with a formal bow, she looked at me with a look of curiosity and maybe a bit of recognition? Before saying “Were thou the one singing to us every eve?”

I nodded with a smile on my face. The Princess looked at me again. “Would thou minded if we ask thee to sing again?” she said with a smile on her face. I thought for but a moment. “Your Highness-” “I bid you. Call us Luna” she said with a casual smile. I raised an eyebrow at that, but nodded again “Luna.” Ok that felt weird. “I have sung to you every night since ever since I started to look at the moon. I would not mind singing again” She looked at me with a look of joy on her face while clapping her hooves together. “Splendid! Please Begin.”

Again I coughed into my hand to clear my throat. And as Luna had asked, I began to sing again.

“Hush now, quiet now

It's time to lay your sleepy head

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to go to bed

Drifting off to sleep

Exciting day behind you

Drifting off to sleep

Let the joy of dream land find you

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to lay your sleepy head

Hush now, quiet now

It's time to go to bed”

She looked calm throughout the entire lullaby. When I had finished she looked at me “May we ask thee, how thou know of that lullaby?” His eyebrows raised a look of surprise crossing his face. I was scared to tell her how I knew of Fluttershy’s lullaby. After thinking for a good amount of time I just sighed and looked at her.

“You may want to be prepared for this.” I said motioning for her to follow me back inside. Sitting down on a chair I motioned for her to do the same. Once we had both sat down, I looked at her and asked. “Alright, what do you want to know?”

“Everything”

This is going to take a while..... I smiled. “Well then, let me begin.”

I first went into a detailed account of how many wars there had been on Earth, about how bad everyone was to each other. Telling Luna how everything worked here was a bit more difficult. Simple things, like what a car was. To more complicated thing like aeroplanes and space shuttles seemed alien to her. Although I probably think that’s because she’s from another dimension? Or is it a universe? I rightly didn’t know how they worked at all. But I tried my best to explain.

I then went on to explain my life to Luna. Only excluding what happened to me when I was younger, purposefully not explaining my accident to her. But I did explain all the hardships and all the pain, joy and sorrow, happy times and sad. Going on to explain how one show changed my own opinion on Mankind, I had thought I could help them be more peaceful if only they adopted the same ideals as those held in Equestrian society. But they rejected my opinions, calling me crazy. I explained it all in detail to the Princess. And then after I had said all of that, I sighed and told her about the show that changed my opinion. My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

At first it seemed the Princess was horrified by the thought of every movement being watched by people she didn’t even know. But I explained that the show taught children about the meaning of friendship. It had even helped some people.

“Take me for example. My life was seriously fucked up. I had gone through so much pain, so many accidents. But then I watched the show, and I didn’t feel so bad anymore. I knew that there would be someplace better to look towards.” I said with a weak smile tracing along my jaw.

I sighed. “Can I ask you a question Luna?” She nodded and I continued. “Why are you here?”

“What dose thou mean?”She had a confused look on her face. I just sighed knowingly.

I looked into her Blue eyes, after taking a moment to examine the floor for a good minute. I spoke up again. “What are you doing here, on Earth?”