Goines On: Back yard in emptiness

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It was evening, and night was quickly darkening. A wave of sadness enveloped Goines as he walked out to the compost bin in his back yard to empty the day’s accumulation of unused vegetable matter – rinds and peelings of fruits and vegetables, plum pits, apple cores, mildewed bits of lettuce, coffee grounds.
    The yard seemed so empty, and the emptiness seemed to stretch out to the trees behind and up to the moon, shrouded tonight in wispy clouds or fine mist. The many birds who had visited Goines’ feeders throughout day were gone, returned to their nests and hollows. The neighbor’s cat who sneaked in to stalk the birds was gone too, gone back home for the night. And the yards on either side of Goines were as deserted as his, all of them bare and ghostly quiet, despite the frogs’ din resounding from the drainage pond behind. No one was out but himself, not even a neighbor’s dog. Most dogs were inside now, as Ziggy would be too….

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