An ancient poem spools through his mind. In the distance glow a pair of gems. An oryx is watching him in the darkness. Such a beautiful creature! And, as he observes the animal move with grace, he feels he is glimpsing a remote future, an instant in someone else’s life. A time he will no longer inhabit, but a time, nevertheless, that will be connected to this very moment, which is already fading, already gone.
