i'll be a hero in my own time

last night i saved the universe, reality, and every plane of existence.

i was in a very dark place that reminded me a lot of the scenes from
Return Of The Jedi when luke is fighting vader while the emperor looks
on from his throne. none of those characters were present though. it
was just me, alone in the darkness. i couldn't feel the floor with my
feet. i assumed i was floating, though every action felt like i was in
water, like the darkness itself was a dense fluid resisting my
movement.

as i floated, four fuses, like those used to detonate dynamite in old
westerns or bugs bunny cartoons, suddenly appeared before me and were
lit simultaneously. i knew there was no explosion at the end of these
fuses though. somehow i knew these were the strings upon which all
being relied, and a moment of panic threatened to overwhelm me,
because they were swiftly burning away and i didn't feel i had time to
think of a solution. worse, i felt the presence of another mind on the
other side of the fuses, contending with me, an evil trying to destroy
all that is. i willed myself to hold things together, concentrating
with no real notion as to what i should concentrate on.

then a space opened above me, and there was someone sitting there who
spoke to me in the same manner as those in an old kung fu movie would.
the soundtrack did not line up with the movement of his mouth, but i
could hear his words nonetheless.

"when contending with existence, keep to the soft things. for even the
hard things must rely on the soft."

i took his calm advice. i put my finger right above my solar plexus,
the center of my chest, right on the breast bone, but what i was
concentrating on was my skin, on the softness covering my skeleton.
the fire of the four fuses faded and blew out. tiny wisps of smoke
curled away from them, and i was hurtled away from them, back out of
the detail of what i found to be a weaving of some sort, pulled back
until i could not see the fuses, but only a multitude of black threads
crisscrossing like denim fabric magnified to the nth degree.

my heart was racing, but i had the sense that i had won. i remember
thinking that surely saving the universe couldn't be that easy, but it
was and i did.

anyway, you're welcome.

if you feel the need to shower me with gifts to show your
appreciation, make checks payable to me.

ghost