Part Nine.

The trick is to enjoy the good times when they decide to show up. Take them out to a movie and make the experience last as long as you can.

I sit on a bench along this winding trail. Behind me, a playground. In front of me, a river populated by ducks. The sun is high in the sky.

I suppose I still don't believe it. I mean, when you've been around this particular block as many times as I have, you'd be a little more than sceptical too. There is a difference this time, though: I know I want this to last.

Many people walk by me as I sit. Many couples holding hands. Right now it doesn't bother me.

It's so weird feeling unbridled happiness. I've felt it often enough to become comfortable with it, and of course enjoy it. But when it stands alone, it doesn't mean as much as when it has a darker backdrop behind it. Where do you find the rainbow? Only after rain.

The children play in the playpark behind me. Their shrill cries of joy remind me of when I too was young enough to care about nothing more than the ratio of the amount of fun I could have verses the amount of time that was left. In this way, I have yet to grow up.

And I hope I never do.

Experimental Fiction / D.S. Variety

Horrific wonders of the world, sound off like you've got a pair!

The victory march around the neighbourhood lasts not even a block.

Now the chorus of defeat, you must make yourselves heard! We all know how hard you try to be noticed.

Regret injected with delight; a dessert that's come to be delicious. The kind you enjoy but wish you'd never experienced.

Satisfaction, sound off! Are you present today?

... No. It's gone AWOL.

The more you desire, the more you require to feed the new stomach. The more familiar an enemy becomes.

The more you desire, the more you require, like a snowball rolling down a hill. The more you need something, the more you're scared to live without it.

The more you desire, the more you require.

I am not a harsh teacher, nor am I a withdrawal of symptoms. I am simply an unfiltered eye. And an unfiltered eye lacks a bias toward the intricacies of my own shortcomings.