Coal

He took his blinders off, amazed at what he could see. Unshackled... he could breathe.

He took his blinders off, amazed at what he could see. Unshackled, he could move freely; without earplugs, watch the birds sing. He could breathe.

He grasped this new reality: sunrise, sunset, seeing a banjo, hearing it ping.

He walked towards this unexpected future as the holograph faded into a dream.

This was not the reality of his upbringing, the way to Heaven, his purpose in life.

He was meant to love coal, become a miner or a horse carrying load after load, stuck in black holes only lit by those in control of the switch. Light on. Light off.