Roland Yeomans's Blog, page 127

THE SOFT GOODBYE

Do you humans feel it?  The Sense of an Ending.

The iron snow of despair swirls all about and within you.  

You do not sense it, of course.

It is like dining in a dim restaurant.  

The longer you are there, the lighter it becomes ... to you.

The interior has not become brighter.  

Your eyes have just become accustomed to the darkness.


Just as the eyes of your spirits have become accustomed to the darkness of the ever colder world in which you exist.



I would say "souls" instead of spirits, 

but you have become much too sophisticated and hollow 

to believe in anything which you cannot fondle or deposit in your banks.



Each of you is falling from this world as aimless and blind as a shooting star.  

You speed through the darkness of your perceptions ...

burning yourselves up, drawn by the gravity of your deeds to the harsh destiny born of your choices.


Living this way is much like leaping off a cliff, hoping to build your wings on the way down. 

 It did not work out very well for Icarus ... nor will it for you.



Who am I, you ask, to speak thus.  

I am sometimes called Guanyin.

The Chinese name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, 

meaning "[The One Who] Perceives the Sounds of the World". 

What I hear of late is the Soft Goodbye of that Concept for which I am considered the Goddess ...

Mercy
This Season is the Time when I call out to you with the most hope of being heard ...

But the sounds of cash registers and bitter recriminations 

have all but drowned out my Voice in your ears.

Selfishness is catching; it rubs off on people.

Yet so does Love: 

Infect those about you with Mercy, Compassion, and Love before it too late.


The Winter of the Soul is all about you ... 
brighten what you can of it with warm acts of kindness and caring ...

Let the Soft Goodbye of the Soul have at least the glow of one caring soul to light its way at the End.

If you wish to read more of me, you can find me in THE THREE SPIRIT KNIGHThttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AD94EQE

CHRISTMAS IS DYING

Reindeer and Christmas trees are two of the most recognizable symbols of the Yuletide season, 



but future generations may never get to see either of them.

 New research has revealed that both are at risk of being wiped out, as a result of climate change.


 Arctic reindeer are becoming smaller and lighter due to the impact of climate change on their food supplies.



But is the Christmas Spirit itself being starved?  Are we becoming a country of Scrooges?

We cross out Christ in the windows of our stores with Xmas; 

We decree it illegal to show Nativity Scenes in front of the Courthouse, 

whose sculpture of the Ten Commandments over its doors have also been taken down; 

TV's bombard us with commercials of people only being made happy with the acquisition of more and more things.





 And we wonder why we feel cold and alone as we wander this culture of frozen hearts and grasping hands.

Do you long for that childlike innocence you had so very long ago?



Or does your sense of your childhood seem as far removed and cold as the withered, dead leaves of your past?

 But the wonder and awe still live in your thirsty heart and bruised mind.

Search the corridors of your heart and find a memory of a time as a child when you felt loved and safe.

Reach out for a smell that lives in that moment: 

Perhaps it is the scent of vanilla your mother is pouring into the preparation of your favorite Christmas treat.

Perhaps it the tingle of the cold morning grass beneath your bare feet as you play with your puppy as it runs beside you.

Love can have a feel like the tickling of your mother's hair about your cheeks as she hugs the pain of your scuffed knee away ...

Love is the sense of being made to feel grown up, though a child, as when your mother included you in adult things.

The Christmas Spirit lives within you still.
But like a fire that dies to cold embers if it is not constantly fed, 

the Christmas Spirit must be refreshed with such memories ... and more ...

It must be fed with acts of kindness to strangers, and even more importantly, 

to those close about us who we have stopped seeing as feeling, hurting souls

as we dwell on past hurts and slights.

Love is a perfume that lingers upon the fingers of those who give it to others.

Happy Christmas, Everyone, from me and Midnight

BLUE CHRISTMAS?

Having a Blue Christmas?
I am probably the last person who remembers Shotgun Red - a puppet who appeared on the late lamented NASHVILLE NOW.

On his Christmas Special, Shotgun was driving in the snowy night, trying to reach his family before Christmas.

He kept switching radio channels but no matter what station he found, the tune BLUE CHIRSTMAS blared out: 

Elvis, Ernest Tubb, Willie Nelson ...

When he turned to the last station he could get and got the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing it, Shotgun raised his head and howled like a wolf.


Is that Blue Christmas wolf howling inside you right now?

There are ways to starve it and feed the Serene Wolf within:


1.) CHOOSE YOUR COMMITMENTS WISELY -
You may be expected to show up at a family gathering, or to attend a certain set of social events, but if you are not going to feel comfortable in certain environments,

 then simply decline an invitation.

Choosing when to step out and mingle and when to have a quiet night in,

 no matter what day your calendar says, is a great practice in self-care and a great way to avoid a blue Christmas this year.


2.) PUT A H.A.L.T. TO YOUR CHRISTMAS BLUES -

We are much more likely to make poor decisions when we feel Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired, so taking time to check in with your current mental and emotional states is important.

Did you choose wisely and commit to a party that you are now feeling too tired to attend?

You have the right to not go.

When tired, for example, the chances of you making decisions that are not aligned with your values, goals, and way of life are higher.

What can you do instead?

Take a nap and see how you feel. Rent a movie and cook some dinner either alone or with a trusted friend.

Listen to new Christmas carols that are not tied to any bittersweet memories.  

Browse YouTube for comedians that add sparkle to your private times.


3.) STRIVE FOR BALANCE -
Instead of indulging at every event, and every time a treat is offered, stay balanced with your daily intake.

If you indulged at a get together last night, try having a breakfast of fruit and a whole grain (maybe oatmeal or wheat toast with peanut butter) and a hearty salad for lunch.

 Starting the day off with good food choices leads to better food choices throughout the day.

The see-saw of Christmas blues can be swung your way by laughter -- seek out sources that make you smile and laugh.  And try to add the perfume of laughter to someone else's day -- some of it will linger on you.


4.) REACH OUT -
Not just for help -- but to give it as well.  

That elderly neighbor you haven't seen in awhile?  Drop in with a plate of cookies or a holiday turkey or food for her pet.

Have friends slipped away from your daily contacts?  Emails are short and simple. Twitter and FB them, letting them know you miss them.


5.) A MOVING TARGET IS HARDER FOR THE BLUES TO HIT -
By simply taking a walk everyday, you are getting the blood flowing and keeping your body in active mode. 

Increased activity releases endorphins which will elevate your mood.

Just as antibody production is connected to both exercise and happiness, so too is endorphin production.

Endorphins act as both a painkiller and as the pay-off for your body's reward system.

You may also get an endorphin blast from talking to a stranger, eating a satisfying meal or being exposed to ultraviolet light.

A jog, an hour of yoga,

(just me trying to get into those ridiculous positions is good for a good belly laugh -- from those watching me)

 a trip to the gym, a bike ride, or anything else that makes you feel good is even more important this time of year.

What can also keep you from a blue Christmas is movement in the form of volunteering. 

It is hard to be down when you are helping others. 

Check with your local food kitchen or charitable donation centers for when and where you can provide service to those in need.

MY NEW TV IS SMARTER THAN ME!

Are you there, too?


My new Smart TV is smarter than me!




SOAP OPERA EFFECT


Does MARCO POLO seemed to have been filmed as a Soap Opera on your new TV?


Your new TV has decided it is smarter than you.


It has to do with the refresh rate of your picture.  Soap Operas are shot on cheaper video tape which increases the frames per second.


Now, your not-so-smart TV has decided to up the ante so to speak on all the things you view.




SOLUTION:


Go deep sea diving down your TV's menu's. 


It will usually take you 2 menu's to find something called


AUTO-MOTION PLUS in your PICTURE OPTIONS.


Turn it off.  It usually does the trick.






DRAG, LAG EFFECT


Disabling "Smart Security" feature completely resolves this issue,


and gets rid of the sluggishness and freezing experienced within the TV's OS.


I also disabled auto-update as I saw this was recommended by other owners as a potential fix.

To disable Smart Security:


Menu button on Remote> System > Smart Security > Off






JAPANESE TORTURE, SET UP MANUAL STYLE


You know those uncountable number of teeny, tiny angels dancing on the head of a pin?


Well, even they couldn't read the even tinier print (in grey not black ink) of my TV set up manual!


Go to YouTube. 


Type in the make and model of your set and put SET-UP, CONNECT, or UNBOX tutorial.


Most, if not all, of your questions will be answered.




I hope this has helped in some small way, Roland

HOW TO WRITE LIKE LEONARDO da VINCI_IWSG entry

No, not mirror writing ... unless you're left handed.

Why did Leonardo Da Vinci write in backward or mirror image style?

I never believed that Leonardo's writing had anything to do with secrets or mystery writing.

He was such a creative, innovative person, he wrote the way he did because it was easier and possibly less "messy".

Leonardo was left handed.

If you have ever watched a left handed person write you will see that in order to be able to read what they have written,

as they write it, they "curl" their hand around what they have written. This allows them to see what they are writing.

So I believe Leonardo simply devised the Backward Writing because it worked for him.


Truly a practical and ingenious way to write his thoughts quickly and without mess. 

And obviously, he had no problem reading what he had written.

That's it. No big secret and deep dark mystery.

Just a good example of how Leonardo was someone who could "think outside the box". 


As you must think outside the box if you are to write something original.


You see, even if the original novel you write does not sell, you have not sold out the most valuable thing you have ... yourself.

What made this illegitimate son of a peasant girl and a notary become one of the most famous artists, inventors and scientists who ever lived?

His energy was limitless when it came to asking questions and searching for answers, and

he was the master of observation which led to more questions and discoveries.

He had an insatiable desire to learn as much as he could about everything he observed, and he took meticulous notes.

He even described himself as a "disciple of experience" which meant he learned from experiencing, experimenting and observing everything he came in contact with.

So must you be a disciple of experience if you would write "true" fiction even if it is a tale of utter fantasy. 

If the reader believes your protagonist, then she/he will flow seamlessly into the adventure no matter how fantastic ... if the logic of the heart rings true.

THE DA VINCI METHOD OF WRITING AWESOMELY:
1.) Curiosità.

Curiosità is an "insatiably curious approach to life and unrelenting quest for continuous learning". Great minds have one characteristic in common: they continuously ask questions throughout their lives.

Leonardo's endless quest for truth and beauty clearly demonstrates this.

What makes great minds different is the quality of their questions. You can increase your ability to solve problems by increasing your ability to ask good questions.

Like da Vinci, you should cultivate an open mind that allows you to broaden your universe and increase your ability to explore it.

2.) STEPS TO BECOMING A DA VINCI

 KEEP A JOURNAL -


Bring a journal wherever you go and use it often. Write your ideas and thoughts there. Try to write several statements a day that start with "I wonder why/how..."

   KEEP FOCUSED -


Observe according to a theme. Choose a theme and observe things according to the theme for a day.

 For example, let's say you choose "communication". For the entire day, observe every type and instance of communication you come across. You can then record your observations in your journal.

  OPEN THE WINDOW OF YOUR MIND -Stream of consciousness exercise. Pick a question and write the thoughts and associations that occur to you as they are. Don't edit them. The important thing is to keep writing. This is also referred to as freewriting .

3.) Dimostrazione. Dimostrazione is "a commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from mistakes". Wisdom comes from experience and the principle of Dimostrazione helps you get the most out of your experience. Here are some ways to apply Dimostrazione:   THREE POINTS FOR YOUR INNER COMPASS -First, make a strong argument against your belief. Next, take a distant view of your belief (for example, as if you live in a different culture) and review it. Finally, find friends who can give you different perspectives.   ANALYZE YOUR SIREN -



Analyze the advertisements that affect you.

Look at the advertisements in your favorite magazine and analyze the strategy and tactics they use. Find the advertisements that affect you most and find out why.

  FIND YOUR AUNTIE OR ANTI-MODEL -
List the names of some people whose mistakes you want to avoid. Learn from them so that you won't encounter the same pitfalls.

4.) Sensazione.

Sensazione is "the continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to enliven experience".
According to da Vinci, we can best practice Dimostrazione through our senses, particularly sight.
That's why one of Leonardo's mottoes is saper vedere (knowing how to see) upon which he built his work in arts and science.Here are some ways to apply Sensazione:




Write detailed description of an experience. For instance, describe your experience of watching a sunrise in your journal.






Learn how to describe a smell .






Learn to draw .  Even if it is badly.






Listen to different sounds around you.
Learn to listen to different intensity of sounds from the softest (e.g. your breathing) to the loudest (e.g. traffic).







Live in the moment. Practice mindfulness.
5.) Cryptic.


Cryptic is "a willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty".

An essential characteristic of da Vinci's genius is his ability to handle a sense of mystery. Here are two ways to apply Cryptic:





Befriend ambiguity.
Not knowing something does not make it ambiguous! It is when you DO know something but its meaning is indeterminate.






Ask yourself questions that relate two opposites.
For example, ask yourself how your happiest and saddest moments are related.  You will be surprised at your findings.






Practice the Socratic method.
The goal with the Socratic method is to examine possibilities, and that is done by asking questions, not by giving answers.


Socrates was known (and criticized) for asking questions to which he didn't have answers.


The key to using the Socratic method is to be humble.

Don't assume that you or anyone knows anything for sure. Question every premise.

6.) SO YOU QUESTION ALL OF THE ABOVE -

How will this improve your writing?

Imagine your heroine can't remember when she hasn't been able to ...

A.) Taste colors
B.) Not laugh when exposed to lies.

Harmless right?

No, she begins to have indigestion and hysterical laughter in front of forgeries in the art museum.

She begins to earn a living until ...

the intelligence agencies the world over hunt her for her skill at detecting lies and

the terrorist organizations the world over want her dead.

Then, an old crone said she once traded the heroine those deadly gifts in return for her earliest memory.

Does the heroine want to un-do the trade?

Let the author of WALL-E tell you how to craft a GREAT STORY  

HOW TO FIND TIME TO WRITE IN THIS CHRISTMAS MADNESS

I know how hard it is to find time to write during the holidays!

16 hours of straight rare blood runs for over 400 miles yesterday 

left me too wiped but to collapse and sleep for 16 hours on my precious day off!

But holiday writing can be done.

Today, I helped McCord and Meilori end the Civil War ... alternate history is so much fun ...

But not so much for Sherman and Jefferson Davis

 (did you know his personal slave, William Jackson, slipped secrets of the Confederacy to the North?)

Sometimes the truth is more fantastic than fiction.

But I digress ...


1.) FORGET THE GOAL OF OTHER MONTHS

Any words written now should be considered a victory.  Reward yourself for them.

 By removing the pressure of trying to beat the clock, you’ll free yourself to see your productivity in a new way. 

Also, give yourself a little slack this time of year.


2.)  BE A YOGA WRITER

Be flexible.  

Take an inventory of any free time:

 your lunch hour,

the time you spend waiting for your children during holiday pageant rehearsals,

 sitting in an airport waiting for your flight—you get the idea. 

Use this downtime to write. 

And since this “found” time doesn’t take away from any other holiday tasks you need to accomplish, 

you’ll be less likely to feel guilty about working on your writing projects.


3.)  TO YODA LISTEN -- A CREATURE OF HABIT YOU MUST NOT BE

Think you can only write at your favorite desk?

Unthink.

Bring a laptop, a tablet, or a pen and paper with you as you run your holiday errands. 

When you find you’ve arrived somewhere early,

 use those few extra minutes to jot down ideas or to continue working on an ongoing writing project.

You can also decide to wake up earlier (or stay up later) than usual to ensure 

that you spend some time at your favorite desk, with your favorite hot cocoa, and no interruptions.


4.) HANDS FULL -- MOUTH OPEN

 You’ve got five bags of holiday gifts in one hand and a platter of holiday goodies in the other hand. 

How are you supposed to type or hold a pen to write?

 With a dictation program for your computer or app for your cell phone, writing can be virtually hands-free!


5.) WRITE LIKE A SHUTTLE LAUNCH ... IN STAGES

 Look at marathon runners: they don’t begin their training by trying to run 26.2 miles. 

Instead, they run many shorter distances to build stamina, and slowly increase the mileage as they get stronger. 

Why would you start writing a book by trying to write the entire book?

Writing in 15 minute stages in the morning, then in the afternoon, and finally in the evening hours can get a lot of writing done per day.

BELIEVE IN THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS

The magic memories of Christmas that most of us treasure are unique to each of us.

Yet, sometimes clarity comes only upon reflection. 

We get so caught up with the tugs and pulls of the season that we miss the truly priceless people and moments. 

If we but reflect we will see that 
We were blind to the love healing us and holding us tight in the arms, words, and actions of those we too often took for granted.

Still, 
we were innocent enough to see fairies dancing upon frosted lake surfaces, 
to taste the falling snow, 
and to laughingly make snow-angels.

As adults the world is too much with us. 

Yet, The Great Mystery has given us one month out of 12 to see the world as the child we once were, 
the child we can once again be if only we put down the hates and anguish that only harm us anyway.


If the yellow, green, red, and blue lights don’t twinkle with their normal festive happiness 
and instead glower like warning beacons, it is the mind that views them that has changed.

The magic is still there, waiting for the child you once were to believe in it again.

By years of Hurt and Anger, you have closed the door to it. 

But each time you smile to a hurried face that seems lost in life, 

each time you back up to allow a weary older person in line ahead of you,
each time you pause to look at the snow-layered buildings as the child you once were would see them --
you open the door to that Christmas Magic a little wider.

Every day you live can be magical if you work at it.  

The path of least resistense is to live in a world leeched of its color and vitality by Anger and Hate. 


Choose to find the laughter and beauty as you live each hour.  
Each laugh, each act of compassion is a brushstroke that adds the color of magic back to your life.

The magic of Christmas has nothing to do with decorations, lights, presents, Christmas trees or anything so material.


It has everything to do with a little girl’s smile 

and a mom who buys real candy canes for their tree 

so she can hear her little girl giggle as they decorate it together.


Give a smile or a laugh to someone.  The present you will receive will be ...  Magical

The gifts we give that matter most are the ones that cannot be bought or sold. 


The love we share and the memories we leave behind, are the greatest gifts we can give. 
They are the only gifts that last a lifetime.
THINK ABOUT HIBBS  FOR A CHRISTMAS GIFT

THE LIE OF CHRISTMAS MAGIC?

Some say Christmas has never been magical, not even from the beginning.

We tend to overlook that the Holy Birth occurred in Bethlehem because of an act of oppression, and the threat of violence,

 when a man and woman were forced to travel from Nazareth to their ancestral home 

by the decree of an occupying army in the final days of the young woman’s pregnancy.


And, although we tend to be only vaguely aware of it, the massacre of innocents is woven inextricably into the story.

Only three days after Christmas Day, on Dec. 28, the Church’s calendar remembers the other children of Bethlehem,

the ones left behind when Joseph fled with Mary and Jesus to Egypt for safety following an angelic warning, 

the ones slaughtered by King Herod in a fearful rage.


Magic in Christmas? 
No matter how much we might like to make it so, magic was not prominent in these events.

Though we may rarely come to terms with it, 

the Christmas story begins and ends in violence.

We should not be surprised.

We should not be surprised that the incarnation of good, of which the innocence of all children reminds us, 

is not received either warmly or passively by the presence of evil.

Sometimes that evil finds its expression in armies of violence, sometimes in greed and fear and power,

and sometimes in clouds of darkness that overtake and consume those among us most vulnerable

to delusion left to their own devices by a society deaf to the needs of those without power: the old, the mentally ill, the poor.


The thought that there is no magic in Christmas might even do some good:


Magic too easily lets us off the hook for the role we are called to play in the story,

the story of goodness being birthed in the world, 

the story of light that the darkness would overcome, the story of innocence confronted by evil, the story of Christ.



No, there is no magic.
What there is is an age-old struggle with evil that comes in many forms.

Christmas comes into play, 

not because it represents even a temporary respite from reality, 

but because the birth of incarnate love lays bare the reality 

that it is the evil that does not belong here. 



The birth of incarnate love lays bare that the slaughter of innocents in whatever form, 

child or adult, finds no place, no home, no tolerance, no business as usual in the world of which God dreams.

And once we are robbed of the magic of Christmas, we begin, maybe, to grasp its reality. 


The reality is that the birth of the Christ child does not cast a magical spell rendering the presence of evil ineffectual.

It does not relieve humankind of the hell-before hell we have made of this world. 

Rather, it invites us to participate in its redemption.

The birth of the Christ child is not a tool for us to use, like sorcerer’s apprentices, 

magically relieving us from doing the hard work that needs to be done. 

It is a call to action.

God has entered the world in a profoundly real, not magical, way. 

And that in this particular child, Light has come into the world,

 and the darkness did not, and will not, overcome it.


Tomorrow:  
BELIEVE IN THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS

SILENT KNIGHT

 *This Christmas Season Night as I sit alone with ghosts from my past, 

it occurs to me that each of us is a Silent Knight ...


A Silent Knight for whatever creed shapes our thoughts and steps.

No matter our words, it is our actions that speak for us.


Have we spoken love and forgiveness to only retort sharply at the harried store clerk who did not respond fast enough for us?


Have we scoured the stores for just the right present, the perfect gift wrap only to snap at the very ones for whom we bought it out of irritation and weariness?


Have we slaved over a king's spread of assorted recipes, only to have no appetite or warmth or patience for those for whom we prepared the delicious dishes?

If we were to glance up and see the flag of the True Creed which our actions proclaim we live by, would we cringe in disbelief?

 
Today books, films and Internet sites are filled with fanciful tales purporting to tell the history of "Silent Night."

Some tell of mice eating the bellows of the organ creating the necessity for a hymn to be accompanied by a guitar.

 Others claim that Joseph Mohr was forced to write the words to a new carol in haste since the organ would not play.

The German words for the original six stanzas of the carol we know as "Silent Night" were written by Joseph Mohr in 1816, 

when he was a young priest assigned to a pilgrimage church in Mariapfarr, Austria.

The fact is, we have no idea if any particular event inspired Joseph Mohr to pen his poetic version of the birth of the Christchild. 

The world is fortunate, however, that he didn't leave it behind when he was transferred to Oberndorf the following year (1817).

On December 24, 1818 Joseph Mohr journeyed to the home of musician-schoolteacher Franz Gruber 

who lived in an apartment over the schoolhouse in nearby Arnsdorf. 

He showed his friend the poem and asked him to add a melody and guitar accompaniment so that it could be sung at Midnight Mass.

His reason for wanting the new carol is unknown.

Later that evening, as the two men, backed by the choir, stood in front of the main altar in St. Nicholas Church and sang "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht!" 

for the first time, they could hardly imagine the impact their composition would have on the world.

And so,

they were Silent Knights for their God. 


As we, too, are Silent Knights for our gods: 

Esteem in the eyes of others, 

Wealth,  

Social Status,  

World Acclaim,  

Control over Others, 

Control over Ourselves,

or  

He who sang the universe into being.
 

We can hardly imagine the impact our actions, positive or caustic, will have on the network of fragile souls in our world.  

That fact should make us careful and compassionate in the days to come.

May your Christmas Season be magical and healing. 

Me and my Christmas ghosts tip our egg nog to you, 

while we listen to Josh Groban singing "Silent Night." 

(Picture courtesy of S. Ward)
***

ONE CHRISTMAS NIGHT_WEP Entry_Utopian Dreams

I am the Charioteer

A rather grandiose name considering my present occupation.


But here in the ironic dying of civilization's light in the 21st Century's dawn, 

there are precious few ways to to roam abroad on horse-drawn vehicles.


After my days as the Cid, I forswore riding for any king or country.  

My days at Camelot should have taught me better than to think any king worth the blood of his followers.


Once I drove Apollo's chariot across the skies, not that he was worth the deaths he caused in his vain wisdom. 


But I was young enough to sacrifice good sense for the thrill of flying across the heavens, 

my fiery steeds singing their joy at the celestial race in tones that thrummed my bones like tuning forks.


Yes, I contested in the Roman Colosseum races as well.  Not for the thrill of victory nor for the roar of the brutish crowds.

I did not know then for what I raced.


I do now.

I raced in a vain attempt to outrun my mistakes of the past. 

But you cannot outrun regret or the pain of memory.

Pain always catches up.


Perhaps that is why my pace is so much slower now.  

My valiant warhorse patiently pulls my light-festooned carriage, waiting for me to come to my senses and race the moon again.


My passengers chatter behind me, their words becoming more shallow and empty with every passing year. 

Soon their words will become so slight and without meaning that they will fly away on the chill winds before they can reach my ears.

One can only hope.

I no longer turn when a passenger boards my carriage.

I hear the rustle of the worthless paper money go into the slot of the metal box behind Sir's back.

Sir?

Once his name had frozen the blood of humans ... as had mine.  

He thinks himself a Foo Dog.

I let him.  

After all, do we not all deserve to write our own myths?


Few see his two other heads. They only see death if they should attack me.  

Few do attack.  And none twice.


Snow drifts like dreams' echoes around me and Sir.  I feel my carriage shift from the slight weight of another passenger.

No paper money.  The heavy thudding of gold coins.

Sir rumbles a greeting, something he has not done for centuries.

"Good to see you, too, Cerberus."

The Voice whispers icy tingles through my blood.  Tender, cold fingers feather the back of my neck.

I turn.


Turquoise eyes laugh into my very soul.  

A face, its beauty terrible and haunting beyond any singing of it, study me with wry amusement.

"Oh, Helios, how often I beckoned to you, but always you raced faster than my words."

"I move slower now, Gaia."

Her whole face glows in a smile.  Snow flurries swirl around us.  

"Perhaps our nights will no longer be lonely."

Nor were they ... ever again.

Perhaps on Christmas Night, miracles still happen.



I wrote this flash fiction to this tune: