Cynus

I'm glad it's benefiting people! And it's more like the difficulty had mostly passed by the time I got around to actually writing this. Obviously at one point this was all quite difficult to talk about and get through, I've just already been through a great deal of healing, and thankfully it allows me to share my story/stories with others in a way that hopefully will help people.

This particular version wasn't so difficult. It's a story I've told to some before, in bits and pieces, over the past decade. Consolidating it was the more difficult part, and laying it out in a way that connected the dots was definitely cathartic. But it was time to let it go, and as a writer, there's only one way I know to do that. Thank you for your support!

I appreciate all the encouraging words. I've already come a long way. Thankfully, the majority of this is actually behind me, and I'm doing pretty well. Overcoming my bad habits is still a struggle, but the weight of the past doesn't weigh on me the way it used to. Thankfully, I've had the chance to see some of that past through the temporal mirror of present behaviors, and fix my hair a bit. I appreciate the support.

The Changes of Adolescence My tenth year was a very formative time in my life. While this part of my story will largely be about my early adolescence, the changes which took place for me began in my tween years. Along with the biological changes of puberty, which I will not address directly as I believe it's largely unnecessary to establish what those changes are, there were simply changes to what was happening in my life which need to be addressed. I will also have to backtrack a slight

I've already finished writing it. There will be four parts in total, and I plan on posting them throughout the week. Thank you for reading and for your support.

A Confession I am not a good person. At least, I don't see myself that way. While I have done good things in the past, I have also done more than my fair share of terrible things. Most of the latter have been directed toward myself, but some have been toward others. I have treated many unfairly, to differing degrees, and in some cases I helped make lives miserable as a direct result of the darkness that lives within me. Please forgive me for this side of the story. I don't mention it see

This story is autobiographical in nature, but I have made some modifications to protect the identities of those included in it. All the names have been changed, and in some cases things such as gender, locations, and sometimes familial compositions have been altered. All that being said, this is MY truth, and it's time I released it so that I'm free to create from a place other than brokenness and sadness. This will be dark, but there are spots of light in the great black. No void is truly empty when one gazes into it. The light from our eyes illuminates more than we realize. ~Samuel

Thank you for the compliments. I appreciate all those who stuck with the story through the end, and I am grateful that you found it thought provoking. By the end of it, that's what I wanted most.

Thank you for the stunning compliments. In many ways, I think the characters in this book represented my own diverse thought processes I have about what might solve the problems of this world. I'm likely to never be in the position to offer such thoughts to anyone who'd be able to do something with them, and I'm probably off the mark more than I hit it, but I do think it's important to consider what makes each perspective unique. We live in a diverse world, full of as many ideals as there are people to have them, and I think that's both the most wonderful thing in existence and the most dangerous threat to our continued existence simultaneously. But I don't think the world will ever be of one mind, so learning to understand others seems like the more logical route. And, if we can manage that... maybe we'll reduce that risk a bit more. Thank you for the support, my friend.

I may return to this world at some point and play around a bit more, but I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing with that just yet. Thank you for reading!

Thank you for the compliments! I just barely finished something new, but I'm not sure when I'll finish the edits so I can start releasing it. I have some planning to do.

Thank you, my friend. I appreciate you joining me on this journey, and I share the same hope for the world.

I liked to swing The ground was just a temporary stop The sky was my destiny Fueled by the power of my own limbs I could climb as high as I wanted I could get higher than the bar I could circle it if I wanted to I liked to swing! I remember when falling backwards was a gift... When every time I felt the world rushing up behind me it meant I would fly right past it. I'd see the ground but never hit it My legs stretched out before me Like a paper doll caught in an updraft I'd soar by

"Looking at the box is cheating" Said the librarian I was a lonely kid, and she was often alone herself. It made sense to be in the library. Stories made sense, and puzzles were starting to. We put the pieces together, one by one, never looking at the box. "But why?" "You wouldn't want the cover of a book to ruin the experience, would you? Same with puzzles. You build the picture." It was a lesson not in words, but in actions. We started with the edges, laying the foundation, then fille

Indeed! And I'm glad it left you feeling warm. Not many chapters which involve the death of three main characters would do that, heh. I appreciate your support. Thank you.

How will they fare? Tune in next week for... Nah, there's only one chapter left. I may revisit the world someday, but for now it will remain spinning in the dark without me. As for where Grim is in between? Everywhere. He is connected to the world as if it is himself. He feels the grass, the waves, and all things which live upon either.

"The Trial" is now complete. Thank you all for joining me on this journey. I appreciate all your support. If you're willing, please leave a review or a comment, and please let me know what you thought! Thank you so much!

Time had little meaning in the world of dreams, a fact which Grim had still not entirely grown accustomed to. During some periods it seemed to move quicker than the waking world, and within others it moved at a crawl. Through all of it, however, he retained his connection to the living things in the world, and felt the passage of time through them. The Chosen did not have that same perception, though some of them had begun to venture out into the waking world once again. They had marveled at

Fear of death is among the most common fears in the world. It rests in the hearts of many, and manifests in diverse and subtle ways. Sometimes it is a fear of one's personal step into that great unknown, and sometimes it is a fear of loss for another about to make that journey. We wonder what will happen, but we trick ourselves into believing that we will somehow know the answer before we experience it. Religions have crumbled to dust without ever having proof of the afterlife they propose,

For what are we but travelers on an unknown road to a foreign destination, the only map the footprints of others who have passed this way before.

Thank you!

I'm glad!

Thank you. This is my favorite scene in the book, and I'm glad it affected you this way. You're the second person to tell me that they felt sadness at Fasha/Naxthul's death, and I'm grateful for that. It was a bittersweet scene to write, and it emotionally affected me for a few days thereafter. Your observations are wonderful. Thank you for them.

I had originally pursued several different thoughts for how to kill Grembal, and was surprised when this option came about and I went with it. I thought about Styx doing something to him on his way to meet Veil for healing, but that just didn't sit well with me. It invalidated that thought process I built for Styx that he is not a killer. I'm glad I didn't go that route. I'm glad that line resonated with you. It's one of my favorites.

Such is the way with generations and cycles. The world moves on, the species living upon it move with it, following the ebb and flow of time.