little footsteps echo
down the empty corridors
i know
with all certainty
i am alone
yet tiny feet
along with shrill giggles
fill the darkness
that surrounds me

no matter how quickly
i turn
the cone of cold white light
only shadows
dance along the beam
while children run
not disturbing the dust
long since settled
on the chill steel

the sound of small footsteps
in this
suppression of light
the peals of laughter
echoing in my solitude
through this empty freighter
drifting off among
the twinkling stars
amidst the stillness of space