Chapter: December “Don’t Dream, It’s Over” *** Losing someone you love is a devastating experience, and even after decades of weathering life’s travails, the human body is a terribly fragile creation. Grief is the embodiment of stress, emotional strain, a...
Chapter: November “Nightmares Are Made of This” *** Never quite even-handed or necessarily fair, life settles on the precipice of endless balances: wealth and poverty, ambition and apathy, love and hate, darkness and light… dreams and nightmares. Often it...
Chapter: June “Ties That Bind” *** In a parallel universe, anything is possible. A world might exist where you’re the president, a prize-winning journalist, a loud-mouthed radio host, or maybe just a homeless bum. An ideal you might even exist, a you that...
Chapter: October “The Light of the Sun” *** For all of the human heart’s shortcomings, there is a great deal to be said for the sphere of emotion. Reason, insight, and intellect are admirable, even outstanding in their ability to teach us to overcome our...
Chapter: September “The Glow of the Moon” *** Decisions vary in scope and importance. We make them all the time; their making defines us as people, tells others who we have been, what we are, what we might be. Maybe you like pina coladas and getting caugh...
Chapter: August “The Sun and the Moon” *** Life is as full of treasured moments as it is of hardship, though the challenges and obstacles that must be overcome can seem insurmountable, weighing so heavily that it seems even Atlas must be crushed under its...
Chapter: July “Stars in the Sky” *** Imagine a jigsaw puzzle. Not just any puzzle, but one of those multi-thousand piece monsters littered with detail and colors. Getting started is no chore; all you have to do is start with the border and corner pieces,...
Chapter: May “Reality Check” *** Meeting a girlfriend’s parents is a defining moment in a relationship; theoretically, you’ll make a lasting impression on your honey’s parents that won’t make them go for the shotgun. Yes, ma’am. I do think your daughter i...
Chapter: April “Dirty Dancing” *** If you have any talent for bullshitting, there are some torpedoes you can see coming and prepare for with a little well-intentioned manipulation. Evil questions like ‘Do these pants make my ass look fat?’ or ‘Do you thin...
Chapter: March “Between the Bars” *** There are moments so uncomfortable that you wish you could be anywhere else, like being face to face with someone calling you an asshole, or a post-sex confrontation with your girlfriend’s shrieking sister. An invitat...
Chapter: February"Love (and Lust) is in the Air" *** Ever get a feeling of intense guilt when you’re not sure exactly what it is that you’re supposed to be guilty of, a sense that an apology is demanded in a situation where you’re dead certain an apology...
Chapter: January "Starting the Year With a Bang” *** “Hey, asshole.” Isn’t it funny how some things never change? First and last impression, like mirror images. Those were the first words Greg Bartels had ever spoken to him, and despite not having seen th...
