I tell you, there was a time when I used to think that everything was random. That life was something that could not be explained. Now though, now I am not so sure that’s true. I realize now that nothing is random, or trivial. You may think I am crazy, and it would seem some would say that I am. But I think you’ll find that once your eyes are opened you will see just how right I am. When that happens, believe it or not, you just might find yourself sitting in here with me. But since you wish to know the secret that lies beneath the veil of this world. I shall tell you what I know. Before I do though I suggest one small warning. It’s not just the darkness one must fear. Sometimes the things we fear most can hide just as well in the light.

I was a boy when I first saw him. I was spending the summer with my grandmother in her country home. I remember playing out in the grass with the family dog. It’s been a long time, but looking back I can’t ever recall seeing the man arrive. He would have had to walk past me as he came up the driveway, but instead it’s as if he simply arrived. It happened suddenly, I heard what sounded like my grandmother cry out in alarm and then a couple very loud thuds. Strangely almost immediately the dog started to act as if it knew something was wrong. That’s when I saw him...he was standing out in front of the porch, he was tall and very very well dressed. He stood as straight as a nail with a pinstripe suit. In his jacket he had what looked like a big red flower. I don’t know why but even though I was far enough way to barely make out it’s type I could smell it’s sweet scent and knew instantly what it was. My mother grew them every year and I could pick out that smell anywhere. It was a Carnation flower.

The man looked seemed to take a couple deep breaths and staring off into the distance, then his eyes stopped where I was. Little me, standing there with the dog still whimpering softly at my feet. He looked almost surprised as if he wasn’t sure if I should be able to see him. He waved, and ever so slightly bowed his head in my direction and then turned his attention back to the house. I saw my grandma walking out the house and greet the man. She wasn’t happy like she was seeing an old friend, though she wasn’t sad either. She just went to him. The man in the suit turned slightly, extending his arm to my grandma. She took it without any hesitation and then they proceeded to walk away from the house.

I started to follow them slowly. I was curious to what I was seeing, and I didn’t want this man to take my grandma away. When I got to the front of the house I took a brief moment to look in through the open door. To my surprise at the bottom of the stairs was my grandma. She lay motionless with her head facing a different direction from the rest of her body. I gasped as I turned to look down the driveway towards where I saw the man and my grandma…but both were gone. Over the years I have taken it upon myself to see many people come and go in this life. And each time, there is the smell of a Carnation, and a vision of a man in a suit walking away...