Creak, says the door, despite my attempt to open it smoothly.

Sweat floods my cheeks and a sense of heaviness forms in my gut, but I do my best to press it down, for I cannot afford to let the fear win. I would pay the ultimate price for such a mistake.

Get moving or perish where you stand. Die cowering in fear, without even attempting to escape this nightmare. That’s not me. I will not allow that to be me. The fear inside is growing in strength, but I am stronger. …

I bathe in the luster of a thousand blooming sunflowers — sinking deep into nature’s tender embrace.

In the sky shines the gazing sun, gently caressing my skin.

And.

The droplets of sweat trailing down my body are tears of joy.

From being alive at this very moment and experiencing such warmth and tranquility.

This is Paradise.

“Is — k, c-me h-re”

Unintelligible noise breaks through that invisible barrier separating me from the outer world.

And, however much I try to ignore that buzzing sound, it only comes closer and closer yet.

Until.

The sun, unfortunately, gets obstructed by red…

Our world is ablaze, and where flames reign nothing but ashes will remain.

Surprisingly, we are still alive — my brother and I. Protected by the sturdy confines of our house. And yet I know not what good it does. Because it will not be long until we become fodder for the greedy bonfire as well.

Screams join with the sparkling of wood, birthing a cacophony of suffering that breaks my heart. I know these voices, they are people I have known all my life, and yet their voices seem almost inhuman now.

Oh, how greedy are the flames… consuming…

“Wake up,” yells the young man as he frantically tries to rouse his brother. Pulling and pushing and blowing air into the mouth — doing anything and everything he can think of.

All he gets in response to his effort is silence.

Frightful and heart-wrenching nothingness.

The pool of blood expands with each passing moment, and so does the distress of the man kneeling next to his dead brother. At last, he resigns himself to reality and removes his bloodied hands from the torn remains of his brother’s corpse.

And then he opens his mouth to scream. An almost inhuman…

Are you looking up at the crowd of fishermen and women on the rock and considering joining them in search of the ultimate fish?

And are you ready to join them?

Maybe you stand among them even now, losing hope after fishing for so long without finding the “right one.” It’s just one bad fish after the other — how can a sea so vast have no decent fish?

Is it perhaps time to take a break on land to work on yourself first?

It is easy to fall into the trap of considering romance a necessity. Jumping from ship…

Daily Reflections #3

Making things easier for us is not a bad thing. But it can be problematic when we become too comfortable.

Why? Because it is through hardship that we adapt and grow. It is in the darkest of moments that we shine the most.

What if we are never issued a challenge? What if we are not called upon to do anything, what then? Then nothing. Then we are nothing.

But, this “call,” what is it?

Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather he must recognize that it is he who is asked. In…

I have been pondering lately how every moment is fleeting by nature, how life itself is finite. Yet, I do not mean this in a pessimistic manner, for I think this very “fleetingness” makes life worth living. I mean, consider the most beautiful of moments, and now let it pass for an eternity. However strong it shone, it will soon lose that luster and become nothing.

Infinity is eternal nothingness.

And knowing that time comes flying past, this means we will have to reach out and hold onto it harder and yet more delicately.

Appreciating it all the more. Allowing…

Is It Too Late to Live in The moment?

To exist in this particular plane of time and state of being is a gift to be grateful for, yet worry is ever-present in the eyes of those I pass on the streets, people without a glance to spare for the gift of the moment.

Always going somewhere, never appreciative of what they have and where they are. Once they reach their destination, perhaps they are content? Alas, but no. They barely have time to take their shoes off before they tie their shoelaces again and move out the door.

So it continues forever and a day. …