The Sands of Time

Alas, always changing relentlessly, moving here and there, never stopping once to rest. It is such the futility of ones efforts to control the sands. The Sands, one could say, is a sapient life form, capable of logical reasoning, and always using it to shift the balance of our lives. We cannot say our future, for our future is unknown, left only to the bending and willing of the Sands of Time..

Questions. The one thing that keeps our lives moving. Or rather, the one thing that keeps us alive. Questions. Provoking the minds of the young and bothering the minds of the elderly. Everyone will face the same battles, the same mountains, all that differentiates us is questions. To answer it this way, or that way, that is our own choice. And that will lead us to our fate. For the Sands of Time always contort us into a position of extreme discomfort, knowing what questions to pitch at us.

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I am sitting on a fence, and old fence. Old and worn torn, swaying to the winds command. I believe this fence will break anytime, dragging me to the floor with it. The pain would be rather intense. I could jump. Jump off this cliff that the fence is precariously positioned on. But why would I jump? What would I be jumping onto? What would I be jumping for? Or. Who would I jump for?

I look down at my feet. They look funny, dangling in the air, rather small compared to whats down there below me. The sea. One large body of water, or 2 hydrogen atoms 1 oxygen atom, if we'd like to get scientific about it. The name of this sea escapes me. For this is no ordinary sea. It is a sea of emotions, whirling together seamlessly, almost as if working towards the same goal. I look out on the horizon. A sea of blue and green awaits, calm and happy. The ultimatum of life, desired by all, but never attainable. Untouchable, unattainable, irretrievable, it all spells the same thing; nothing. I look closer to me. Red. Brown. Anger. Greed. Pain. Suffering. Hardship. Most of what I see is red. I now fear the worst for me, as soon enough the fence will drop down, plunging me into the waters that I fear.

But I see a familiar face out there, playing along the blue and green. It is but a girl, happily walking the shoreline of a small island in the middle of the blue. She looks up at me, straight in the eyes, and smiles. A smile that fills the crevices of my heart with warmth and happiness. I believe this is called love. We share our moment for awhile before she walks into the forest, avoiding my gaze. Thus, my heart again is filled by nothing but a desire, a desire to be with her. To sit on the shoreline with her every evening, watching the sun go down as we contemplate life, and the wonder that is the link that we share because of love.

But what if I just turn around and jump off the other way? I look behind me. Darkness. Emptiness. The void. A cold shiver creeps up my neck, I know what I fear most awaits me in the void. Solitude. Once a coward of being alone, always a coward of being alone. I turn back and face the ocean. The sun beats on my skin, sending warmth and I wonder; is this courage? Or is this just an illusion, the sun tempting me to jump.. I gaze again at the blue and green. Its far away, almost hidden by the raging red.

I close my eyes, and pray the choice I make is the right one. Then I.