I abandoned Tolstoy-- I am a bad mother.

........... [kelly is tired and doesn't feel like starting at the beginning, OR, begin scene, in media res:]

A holy peace came from all directions, insulating me. Not only was I given energy, but I was given this great happiness for the desires on my heart! I felt like running or writing. I couldn't do either, and promised myself I would write about this feeling tonight on here. The thing is though, I don't feel like writing right now. That may have something to do with why this feels so bland. I need to start saving my break for when I have a thought cloud that needs documentation, because when I'm at work expending all this straight logical thinking energy, all I have left is a little creative thought that needs an outlet.

I would rather my thoughts escape into soil, not air [nor concrete, as Al-Daif would suggest.]

Meanwhile, Passage To Dusk, by Rashid Al-Daif, is a worthwhile short fiction read. I would recommend reading it without allowing yourself to read the Introduction, or any background material on the setting or author and doing so afterward instead. This is how it was assigned to me and this is how I experienced it. I was injected into the midst of the narrator's personal terror and it didn't make any sense. You'll feel that way, but it won't make plenty more sense with the information up front anyway, trust me. I don't like the title "Passage to Dusk" for it though, seems to me there is no passage, more of a wandering through--back and forth and out again. The narrative is cyclical, I believe its title translated directly from Arabic suits it best:
"A Targeted, or Intentional, Zone or Space, Between Drowsiness and Sleep." I think I am possibly the only one in my class who not only thoroughly enjoyed it, but appreciated it and loved it (whatever that means.) It says so much about the darkness in loneliness, our need for peace and community, lest we become insane. It speaks of a pit, drowning in it, and of our need to surrender gnawing and heavy pain (though really, all pains, gnawing and heavy or not) to the saving Lord. It showcases that without this vital surrender, our destruction is inevitable. All this it says without saying all this.

Here I go-- destination close-my-eyes.