Charles struggled to hold on to the receding world, to the knowledge that his loves, the four of them, were all around. Love burned bright white in him. A glow, aglow. The world began to slip from his grasp. Earthquakes. Floods. Infidelity. Betrayal. Failure. The fields burn and the next harvest is assured. The world destroys itself and we rebuild it. The destroying is as important as the rebuilding. There can be as much joy in the destruction as the rebirth.
