No crystal balls could ever show

The wonders you have seen

No sun-struck pools of water ever

Shone so brightly green

No planets in the universe

Are such a perfect sphere

No pair of stars, no twinkling lights

Could ever be so dear

No windows ever looked upon

A better view to see

Your eyes are all I’d ever want

To turn their gaze to me...

The water coursing down the windowpane

Relents, just as the water from my eyes

Stops flowing, slowly, slowly, til the rain

Is done. And here upon my bed I lie,

So far from sleep with rumbling in my head

To rival any thunder from above -

That storm on high has passed, and now instead

There’s silence in the world. And you, my love

Who left me here alone, whose cutting words

Became a hurricane inside...

“Don’t drink that.”

I pause in the middle of reaching for my glass of water and look up at the voice - at the woman sitting down in the seat across from me. She has all-black sunglasses on, even though Sunny-Side Up is an indoor restaurant, and while those shades could be for a medical condition or something, the black leather jacket, black t-shirt, and black jeans make me think it’s a fashion ch...

You’ve seen it in your dreams. You have, though you might not remember it, or know that it’s what you saw. But everyone dreams of the Forest of Souls.

We dream of pale green grass, the softest carpet under our feet, too fine to ever leave a stain. We dream of flowers, a rainbow of petals lining the shores of an ever-sparkling stream. We dream of birdsong barely heard - just scraps of an ever-fami...

My legs scream at me after hiking all day, and my scarf is soaked with sweat, but I force myself further up the rocky slope. It’s steep, and I stumble more than once, pushing myself to my feet again and continuing my climb up the black volcano. I’ve never done anything so physical in my life, but now, there’s no time for doubt or fatigue.

I reach the top, coming around a spire of dark rock, and t...