{"id":323,"date":"2025-11-04T03:24:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T03:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flounderingartist.com\/37-2\/about-this-space\/?p=323"},"modified":"2025-11-18T03:33:54","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T03:33:54","slug":"darkness-lights-the-way-250-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flounderingartist.com\/37-2\/about-this-space\/darkness-lights-the-way-250-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Darkness lights the way-250 words"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"nfd-container  nfd-wb-headings__heading-2 is-style-nfd-theme-white wp-block-group has-white-color has-text-color is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"nfd-p-lg nfd-rounded-lg wp-block-cover has-parallax\" style=\"min-height:35vh;aspect-ratio:unset;\"><div class=\"wp-block-cover__image-background has-parallax\" style=\"background-position:50% 50%;background-image:url(https:\/\/images.unsplash.com\/photo-1500628550463-c8881a54d4d4?ixlib=rb-4.0.3&amp;ixid=MnwxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8&amp;auto=format&amp;fit=crop&amp;q=80&amp;w=1200&amp;h=&amp;crop=)\"><\/div><span aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-cover__background has-background-dim-70 has-background-dim\"><\/span><div class=\"wp-block-cover__inner-container is-layout-flow wp-block-cover-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"nfd-container nfd-gap-md is-style-nfd-theme-dark wp-block-group alignwide has-background is-vertical is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-fa38c63a wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"background-color:#ffffff00\">\n<p class=\"nfd-text-xs nfd-text-balance has-text-align-center\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600;text-transform:uppercase\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading nfd-text-huge nfd-text-contrast nfd-text-balance has-text-align-center\">Darkness lights the way<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Archer rolled the last of the sound equipment to the loading dock. He wasn\u2019t sure where Tony was with the truck; he just didn\u2019t want to be here anymore. His skin tingled not just from the cravings.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">&nbsp;He\u2019d skip cleaning tonight. Just, run in hit the lights and come out for a smoke to stave off wanting something stronger.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">When he got on stage, dusty footprints covered it like powdered sugar on funnel cake. \u201cShit,\u201d he panicked. He double-checked that his own shoes were clean. They were as clean as 5- year-old Thrift store work shoes could be.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">He wanted to run, hide. He wanted to tie off and let his consciousness leave this place. He thought about his kids and how many times he\u2019d let them down. He took a deep breath and began to sweep. Every time he turned around there were more and more footprints. Sisyphus would have wept.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Lightbulbs crackled out. Archer didn\u2019t breathe.&nbsp;&nbsp;He didn\u2019t let his heart beat. He heard the ghost step closer. He shuddered involuntarily. Running from ghosts of his past had led him straight into the real ghosts of Jonesville Theater.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">Archer opened his mouth to scream, but darkness raced in faster than air could get out. It ate every thought and left him a husk. He prepared to die.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">As his eyes&nbsp;&nbsp;surrendered, Tony burst in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">\u201cLet\u2019s go man!\u201d Fresh light filled Archer from the glow of the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">He had another chance to be great.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">This time, clean.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archer rolled the last of the sound equipment to the loading dock. He wasn\u2019t sure where Tony was with the truck; he just didn\u2019t want to be here anymore. His skin tingled not just from the cravings.&nbsp; &nbsp;He\u2019d skip cleaning tonight. Just, run in hit the lights and come out for a smoke to stave [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[15],"class_list":["post-323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-250-words","author-cejafi"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Darkness lights the way-250 words - Floundering Artist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flounderingartist.com\/37-2\/about-this-space\/darkness-lights-the-way-250-words\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Darkness lights the way-250 words - Floundering Artist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Archer rolled the last of the sound equipment to the loading dock. 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