Once Upon A Moon

"Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there, with open arms and open eyes." It's hard to describe the void. The void that can take any of us at any time, it resides in all of us it's just a matter of who is unlucky enough to have it worse. A twisted spin the wheel and win a prize. But the prize is depression. deep. dark. clinical. Doctors shake their heads at you, not believing, medleys of mind-numbing pills. It saps everything from you yet I hear them say "I could never." "No matter what it always cheers me up." "Nothing could take my love for it away." Maybe it's better to be numb, that way you can't feel the sadness, the world-view shattering feelings of looking at that something, that one thing you love more than anything. And feeling absolutely nothing. The realization taking you whole that even the thing you love most in the world can't begin to scratch the surface of the void inside. But, every so oft...

Early evenings always seemed to drag on insufferably. He wanted this to be done and over with already, 45 years of this thankless work. Wiping his already sweat-soaked brow he looked around at the crumbling stones, names long since illegible, angels missing arms or legs and cracked crosses decorated the graveyard in front of him. Lowering himself down to the nearest grave, bones creaking the entire way down giving away his age. He brushed away the dust and dirt, pulling up the stray weeds that had popped up since his last visit. Grumbling to himself all the while. He moved slowly from grave to grave, repeating the monotonous work over. He heaved himself back up to grab the ancient pushmower leaning against the tall oak tree that was beginning to take over the corner of the graveyard. He was moving slower while the sun continued to beat down on him, even as it was starting to sink below the trees. He was huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf as he slowly circled around the grave...

Staring out the window while it rattled, letting a freezing breeze in through the small cracks. He sighed as he watched another gust of wind take the tips off the snow drifts, swirling them around town square like a magic spell.  Candles flickering off the fresh powder along the roadsides. A light clink pulled him away from his thoughts as the barmaid dropped off another round. He gave her a half sincere smile, inhaling deeply the aroma wafting off the spiced mead. "So, looks like you'll be spendin' te night with us afta all, aye boy?" A firm slap on his shoulder. "It would appear so." He sighed deeply, wafting the steam off his mug. "Ahs not sa bad! Helluva lot warmer than out thar!" He must have looked skeptical. "I swear on me life!" The rugged man placed his hand over his heart. "Ta folk here'll give ya a good night!" "Maybe so, but it's a night wasted when I could be working on my book." He grazed his eyes...

"What do you mean you have to cancel ?!" she roared into her phone. "Honey. I'm sorry you know I wouldn't if it wasn't an emergency!" "Well, thanks a fucking lot for NOTHING!" She threw her phone down onto her desk, running her fingers through her hair feeling her heart rate skyrocket. Whipping around in her chair she frantically searched for a nearby hairdresser, her presentation was in an hour . If she didn't look like people paid her for the privilege of doing her hair then this was going to be a colossal failure. 'Gnomdins?' Whatever, it would do in a pinch. She was a whirlwind flying around her office grabbing all she needed and running out the door. After driving way too fast and way too furious she flew into the parking lot right up in front of the building. The shades were pulled half way down to block the sun out, leaving her with no way to get a first impression. She bit at her lip and headed up to the door, taking her...