Late

Papers were stacked in rickety piles all over the mahogany desk and there was a carpet of papers covering most of the floor surface around the desk. Little yellow post-it notes were stuck on top of important looking documents. On most of them there was written just one line, in an untidy scrawl: Very important – do it NOW.

Carl sat on a chair behind the desk. His hands were clenched in his blond hair as he surveyed the mess he had been trying to clear for the past week. He glanced tiredly at his watch, not surprised when it showed him that it was nearly dawn. He rubbed his hand over his eyes and picked up the oval glasses that lay on top of the mess on his table. Sighing, he picked up a pen and tried to sort out all the urgent problems his predecessor had created.

~~~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~~~

The sobs were very soft, but they still spread through the quiet house like mist. The unhappiness and pain in them seemed to contaminate and taint every surface it came into contact with.

Michelle lay curled up on her bed, hating the way she couldn’t control the heart-wrenching sobs that escaped her lips. He heart ached and her chest felt like it would split open from the pain. She clenched her eyes shut tighter and thought of the man she loved. His brown eyes so soft and his hair so golden. She had always known she was too good for him. But his long years of companionship had lulled her into thinking that maybe he did love her. Yet, he had told the lie all women dread hearing, he had told her he had to work late. Night after night. He had to work late.

6月13日

Numb

Deliverance

With a shuddering gasp of pain

He felt a piece of his soul

Tear loose

And fly away

His eyes blazed through the mist of tears

Looking down at the figure

Who betrayed him

By dying

Coldness crept into his heart

Into the emptiness in his chest

And created an endless abyss

Of sorrow

Tears spilt over his cheeks

As he screamed to the sky

Begging for deliverance

Begging for numbness

6月10日

Empty Lands

But he saw only dying light and a dead land.
He uttered no prayer, believed in no deity,
and knew that the past was devoid of meaning,
like the present, and a refuge for cowards.
--E. M. Forster, Maurice

6月3日

To my friends and family

Better by far you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.
-Christina Rossetti

6月2日

Climbing ever Higher

Recently I have started a small course in wall-clibing, as most of you already know. You would have figured this out by the fact that I never shut up about it and try to share information about climbing in the wrong way - too much at a time. So here are the basics:

You fix a harnness to your body. This harness is used to connect ropes to and is what prevents you from falling.
A harness on its own will not prevent you from falling. You need someone who is also connected to the rope and who is working with you to prevent any nasty accidents. This person is called the belayer and also wears a harness connected to your rope through a figure of eight. This figure of eight (a metal fixture with two hoops connected to form a figure of eight) is used to provide leverage and resistance, allowing the belayer to 'lock down' and prevent you from tumbling off the wall.
You are connected to the rope by a carabiner, a metal device that opens and can lock.

After that, you're all set to start climbing!