Darkness

As James watched the sun fade into the dark horizon, he tried not to think about tomorrow. Tried not to think about food, or water, or shelter. His family was safe; at least for the time being. Henri whimpered next to him, barely loud enough to hear over the chaos in the distance. He was glad that he bought this home overlooking the city in the valley years earlier when the whole catastrophe was still just silly hypothetical theory.

"Daddy, I can't sleep."

James turned to see his son standing in the doorway wearing his red and blue Spider-Man pyjamas. He smiled and opened his arms, inviting the boy onto his lap. It wasn't a great time for sleep anyway, he thought. Not much point to it now.

"Is it really bedtime?"

James shook his head slowly and looked his son in the eye. "No, it's not."

"Then why is it so dark?"

James looked down over the treetops below. The city was on fire. Still. Vicious mobs of people, all running scared trying to find supplies. There was no humanity left in the madness, and it was like this all over the world. There was no good left in people, not when they were as panicked as this; and soon there wouldn't be any bad left in them either. There would be very little left to show of any of us. Nobody expected this. Nobody.

He thought about what to say to his son, then finally settled on something, which, he presumed, was better than nothing. At least for now.

"Because the sun is burned out," he said.

He looked up into the sky hoping that it might come out again.

It never did.

The Sandman

In my dream, I was climbing an endless mountainside, struggling for the peak. At the top, when I finally reached it, he sat waiting for me. He may not have spoke at all and it was the voice from everywhere else that I heard, but I was told something that I already knew but haven't been doing. And that was do something. In his story it was much the same thing, and it was this small part from a large anthology that has stayed with me for so many years.

Later that morning, I checked Neil Gaiman's web site and found dates for his book tour had been posted that same day. I will be traveling a few hours south to Seattle to see him in a few weeks. If I find the nerve, I may tell him about this coincidence, and about the small part that changed my life.

Clarity

I used to focus on obstacles, which has very little benefit. When you stare at anything for too long, it becomes enormous, and whether you want to or not, it's bound to overwhelm you. Love isn't about feeling overwhelmed; love is simple. And you have to see it for what it is.

Burning

There was a long road that I was walking on, which was hardly a road at all except that I was walking on it. It was actually unending dry sand under a scorched orange sun punishing me for being in its presence. I awoke in that place from an unsettling dream within an unsettling dream, the feeling of looking into opposing mirrors and staring at infinity. Confused, I moved forward, walking for hours and days and years without any idea where I was going. When I finally stopped, I looked down and saw my own footprints in the sand ahead of me. Panicking, I looked behind me, but there were no traces of me there. I looked up at the sun and shook my head slowly, turned around and kept walking. But it got no colder.

Succeeding in Failure

Time will never offer us success. It is itself as successful as anything could possibly be because it has no end. When measured by the absolute of time, there is only failure, and the very best we can do is avoid it as long as possible. In the end, though, you will fail. Accept this. And understand that it isn't bad; it is normal. It is as things are. Don't dwell on this for long because ultimately it doesn't limit your possibility. Failures will be forgotten. Do anything.