Darkness. Everywhere I look, darkness. Listen. Can you hear the sound of this gorgeous girl? Listen to her “click – cluck, click – cluck”. Steady like my clock at home, “tick – tuck, click – cluck”, forwarded from the narrow alleys. My imagination runs wild. By analysing the sound of her steps I can paint a picture in my mind. She seems to be a very elegant comely person the way she uses to walk in her high heels. The same swinging rhythm you’ll find on the catwalks. The little pause between her “click – cluck” tells me something about her size. She has to be tall but still very graceful the way she conquers the cobbled pavement. What is she up to? Why is she disturbing the silence of the night? It’s 4 o’clock in the morning. There are better times being awake. I decide to walk back home and to leave my Mystery to the dark - knowing we probably won’t share the night together.
Back home I try to get some sleep. These sleeping pills stacked on my bed table are very helpful friends. Every night I step into the boxing ring with the chemical industry to get knocked-out by these little cocktails in the shape of a pill. It’s been almost two years ago now, since I last saw my wife. Maybe this mysterious woman reminded me of her. I don’t really know. She sounded so familiar...
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Darkness
- A Nice Sunny Morning
- The Harbour
- Tuning Harry
- O Death Rock Me Asleep
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This short story explores the themes of loneliness, memory, and the search for meaning in the face of loss. It follows the protagonist, Simon, as he grapples with the grief of his wife’s death and his own detachment from the world around him. The story is set against the backdrop of a crime, the murder of a woman, and Simon’s attempts to solve it become a metaphor for his own search for connection.
- The impact of grief and loneliness
- The power of memory and imagination
- The search for meaning in a seemingly meaningless world
- The role of chance and coincidence in life
- The importance of human connection
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The story begins with Simon, a man consumed by grief and loneliness. He hears the sounds of a woman walking in the night and imagines it’s his wife, lost in the darkness of his memory. As he tries to sleep, he reflects on his life and his past with his wife.
The next day, Simon learns of the murder of a woman in a nearby alley. He becomes convinced that the woman he heard in the night is the victim, and he sets out to find the murderer. He searches the crime scene and discovers a clue: a broken bottle of perfume. He then visits a local bistro owned by a friend, Harry, to learn more about the victim.
While at the bistro, Simon recounts the story of his wife’s death, which he believes was accidental. He describes his grief and the sense of isolation he’s experienced since then. His tale foreshadows the tragic ending of the short story.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The story’s keywords are: loneliness, grief, memory, connection, detachment, chance, coincidence, murder, investigation, perfume, and death. The story explores the intersection of these themes, examining how they shape individual experiences and the human condition.
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- Alexandra Orth (Autor), 2009, Darkness. Everywhere I look, darkness., Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/171578
