08.28.2000

When I fell from your world, I could not believe it had been so easily destroyed. The asylum I had created within me already lay in ruin. In an unsheltered room a body stirs, desperately trying to regain some of its former strength. Hollow eyes stare out from a shrunken visage, watching each star fall from its constellation, every breath a tearful prayer.

As the sky darkens, the once-shadowed moon carefully begins to withdraw from her veil, knowing that she would soon be the only remaining source of light. In the distance, the last of the stars are diving into the ocean.

I watch with fear, hoping for mercy on this poor soul. As if in answer, a woman robed in angelic white appears kneeling beside the bed. The dying man’s hand opens, a plea for comfort. As finger touches finger, his eyes close slowly and peacefully.