It was still dark out the “day” the Midnight Son came into the world. Throughout the years he was forced into a schedule, better fitting the masses and businesses that long preceded his time on Earth. As a young child he would draw and color, only to be shamed and made fun of because his world looked different than others. When teenage years came to be, he would stay up “late”, creating worlds on paper with pencil and leaving the world of color behind, only using the world of black and grey for his pallet. Then as it came time to wander the world as an adult, he left all creativity behind, until he forgot how to be creative all together.
Day in, day out, the Midnight Son lived in a world of bland and boring views. He didn’t created, nothing was intriguing to him, and everything became mundane. Until the world as a whole came to a stand still.
As the world stopped, took shelter in their homes, and separated themselves from the comfort of others. The Midnight Son finally found comfort he’d never really known from the world, while also finding comfort in a tool that brought back his creativity. The world was silent at last, no hustle and bustle to be seen, no one to get in his way or distract him from what he wanted to do, there was only dead open space and his own creativity.
It took time to find the creative talent he’d lost for so long, and the tool he’d found wasn’t as easy to use as he’d thought it might have been to use. It took time, dedication, and consistency in practice to learn how to find a way to create the work he’d end up cherishing for the rest of his life. But it took no time at all to fall in love with the environment he was truly born to be a part of.
Most people shy away from the dark, or seek refuge inside when the sun drops below the horizon, fleeing to where artificial light brightens their space. Others use the shadows and blacked out edges of the world to commit atrocities, or slink around with the intent of getting up to no good in any way. Making the night a fearful and horrifying place in the minds of the masses. But for the Midnight Son, this dark world is his “home”, this world is comfort, and this world to him is especially beautiful and peaceful.
Taking his newly acquired tool, heading into the darkness of an empty sleeping city or town, placing it to his eye and capturing the beauty that is The Night. He couldn’t get enough, creating and capturing image after image, finding things that looked so much more beautiful than he’d ever seen in the light, and finding peace & tranquility in the emptiness of the shops and streets that typically hold so much life. He was almost scared of the joy it brought him, fearing that these feeling were “wrong” in some way, since these feelings aren’t “typical” for someone to find joy, happiness, peace, or comfort in.
Putting feelings aside, the Midnight Son found such an abundance of beauty and joy from the work he’d created, he wanted to share it with others. Not knowing where else to place his work, he resorted to Social Media, before trying his hand at sharing his work through video, and ultimately building his own website for people to view the things he created.
Time went by, and the Midnight Son started to change. Not by force or dislike, instead from curiosity. He started to find that he could be creative in his own way, even during the mid days sun shining down on him. People would comment and praise him for his work during the day, but often shied away from the work he still enjoyed more. Criticizing or commenting that it was too dark, too creepy, not colorful enough. So slowly he slipped away from the dark once again, instead creating work on a schedule different from his own. The Midnight Son didn’t mind too much, even though it took small tolls from him as time continued on, he was happy to be creating, happy to capture work that so many enjoyed, and it eventually granted him opportunities he’d never realized he could have.
Time is a strange thing though, you only get so much of it, and possibly at some point you might realize that how you’re spending your time may not be exactly how you want to spend it. You may find that what you thought you enjoyed, is really what other people enjoy more, and you have a soft spot for making others happy (even at your own true joy). That’s what happened to the Midnight Son. He enjoyed creating, capturing work with the tool he’d found, and hearing how much joy others also got from his work. But deep down, the sadness grew the further away he from from his true passion to create in the night.
He sits idol now attempting to figure out his next moves. Appease the masses by creating in the light, pleasing and gaining patrons for his work? Create pieces that highlight the beauty and wonder midnight has to offer, unknowing if such work will appeal to any other than himself? Or attempt to do both, knowing that history may be doomed to repeat itself, and where the scale of Day & Night tilts in favor of the light yet again?
There is no end to this story, as the Midnight Son still lives and breaths. There is no outside to answer these questions, as it is only the Midnight Son that can conclude what happens. There is no true Midnight Son, only a title, created for me, Andrew Hoyle.
