I Leapt Eagerly Into Books. The Characters’

I Felt As If I Were Riding A Pendulum. Just As I Would Swing Into The Abyss Of Hopelessness, The Pendulum Would Swing Back With Some Small Goodness.

It Amazed Me How Some People Could Touch An Instrument And Create Something So Beautiful, And When Others Tried, Like Me, It Just Sounded Like Mangled Noise.

People I Didn't Know Formed A Circle Around Me, Sheltering Me From View. They Escorted Me Safely Back To Our Jurta, Undetected. They Didn't Ask For Anything. They Were Happy To Help Someone, To Succeed At Something, Even If They Weren't To Benefit. We'd Been Trying To Touch The Sky From The Bottom Of The Ocean. I Realized That If We Boosted One Another, Maybe We'd Get A Little Closer.

He Threw His Burning Cigarette Onto Our Clean Living Room Floor And Ground It Into The Wood With His Boot. We Were About To Become Cigarettes.

I Left The Jutra To Chop Wood. I Began My Walk Through The Snow, Five Kilometers To The Tree Line. That's When I Saw It. A Tiny Silver Of Gold Appeared Between Shades Of Gray On The Horizon. I Stared At The Amber Band Of Sunlight, Smiling. The Sun Had Returned. I Closed My Eyes. I Felt Andrius Moving Close. "i'll See You," He Said. "yes, I Will See You," I Whispered "i Will." I Reached Into My Pocket And Squeezed The Stone.