Yarn

A twisted thread of fibers is chasing after me

A red ball of yarn, I’m the honey to a bee

I toss the gnarled sphere as hard as my arm allows

Infinite it seems

Every time it’s thrown, it tumbles back for my eyes to see, curled and tangled, mixed up between twigs and leaves.

It bounces through legs, up red brick walls, threading a devious route and crossing busy car riddled streets. One glance over my shoulder, the red ball of yarn is chasing after me.

I tie one end to an old withering tree, toss it down a cliff, off into a deep, dark sea, to frolic and be spit out on a distant beach. Or maybe it will drown, swallowed by a passing whale, it’s sure to never return, finally to be free.

One night I awake to peculiar sounds, step-tap, step-tap, then a tip-tap on my bedroom window. A sailor named Ahad screamed through a thundering rain, “I have a gift for thee! I tossed a spear and a line to catch a big white whale, all that came back was a red ball of yarn with your name etched in its fibers!”

Madness!

I have tied it to a tree! Attempted to drown it in poison tea! I just want to scream!

How could it be, this red ball of yarn always finds me.

-A.Garcia