The Bricks of Our Lives

There once was this brick. The first brick laid in the foundation of something grand, something exciting, something new. This brick didn't realize he had something in him, something grand, something exciting, something new. All he knew was that he was one brick, one small square mold of concrete painted red to fit in. He didn't know of the adventures he would embark one, the miracles he would witness, all he knew was that he was supposed to hold all the bricks above him up, and rely on the foundation below him. He didn't know that what was about to happen was something grand, something exciting, something new. But one day, he started to see what he would later call, magic.

They came into the house, smiling. He carried her across the steps and she laughed when they closed the door. People came in and out for the next week bearing gifts and cookies. Sometimes the couple would sit on the porch at night, his hand wrapped securely around hers and they would talk about anything, and everything. The brick didn't like to listen to these conversations because he knew they were private, but he sometimes caught a glimpse of what their life together was like... It seemed to be full of love and wonder.

They rushed out, her stomach bulging and left, their car spinning out of the driveway as fast as it could. Some time later they came home, she gently carrying a small bundle, he smiling at her... another small addition to the home.

The brick watched as the girl grew. Sometimes he would watch her chase the dog in the yard and sometimes he would watch her cry.

As she got older he watched as she snuck out, and wanted to scream, "Come back! Don't go! They'll stay up all night..." But she wouldn't hear the brick. They would stay up all night waiting, but when she got home... she didn't want their love or to wipe away her mother's worried tears.

Then she left for real. This time she was crying tears and her mother and father were loading her car with books, supplies, anything and everything... to embark on her own journey of something grand, something exciting, something new.

They still sat on the porch, most nights, and talked. The brick watched as they began to grow old, and one day she never came home.

The man became sad, but still sat on the porch to talk to her. The little brick listened to these conversations, and they always ended with, "I love you always dear."

One day the man didn't come to sit on the porch, and the next the brick was awakened by the flashing lights.

No more people came to he house and the brick felt mighty lonely. He waited and waited, until one day he could no longer hold the rest of the bricks on top of him up. He let go, and everything came crashing down around him.

But he remembered that grand, exciting, and still new adventure he had, when the world relied on him.

And he never forgot.