The October sun is shining on my mother’s hands as she sits by the window, a ball of mulberry-colored yarn in the basket beside her, and a half-finished sock in her lap. Her hands move quickly through motions memorized by years of practice, and the sock slowly grows, row by row.
I look down now, at the work in my own lap. A ball of olive-green yarn is balanced on my knees, and a lace scarf runs from my hands to the floor. I’ve been working on it for a long time now; I only have a few rows left before it will be done.

Snow, snow,
from the gray, gray
sky
white and glistening
where rooftops blend
into smooth gray sky
and blackbirds sit
on the wires overhead
crisscross stark
against gray, gray
like bark on the maple
out behind the fence
reaching up, up, up,
like reaching hands
stretching fingers
tring to catch the big, thick flakes
as they fall, fall
and there's so much world here
my boots crashing through
silent steps
cries of delight
ringing through gray, gray
sky

Chapter One: Fàolan

Fall 105, Cathonys
Poná was usually a quiet city.

My life begins in a large castle.
My mother is overjoyed to see me presented in the world as the heir to the throne and so is my father naturally.
When i turned Three my father died no one knew the cause of his death but many suspected he was poisoned.
Being that a Three year old cannot rule. My blessed mother took the throne as a stand in until i received proper education.
I love my maid Marie she was like my big caring sister.

My life begins in a large castle.
My mother is overjoyed to see me presented in the world as the heir to the throne and so is my father naturally.
When i turned Three my father died no one knew the cause of his death but many suspected he was poisoned.
Being that a Three year old cannot rule. My blessed mother took the throne as a stand in until i received proper education.
I love my maid Marie she was like my big caring sister.

That light, high in sky
The moon, it’s glowing
Brightness capturing my eyes

Its beaming softness
Turned its ways, to a land
Covered in the shadow of
Night

The moon of fair, sky of blue
Surround my sleeping world

He journeyed through a land of webs
A labyrinth of magic spells
He came from distant wild lands
Wearied by paths through hills and dells
Fate walked with that man that day
As he wandered through the maze
Not lost was he, but lost he seemed
As he stepped with haunted gaze
Sorrow lay upon his brow
And weariness rode his shoulders
Yet all sadness lifted from his back
When once he did behold her
There in the light of moon and stars
Danced a maiden bright
Dark of hair with raiment blue

The same therapist from The Princess Problem...

TIGER: Therapist! You must help me! I have a large problem!

THERAPIST: Let me see... how big is this problem? How much does it weigh?

TIGER: Well, I'd say as large as me, hm... 200 pounds at least.

THERAPIST: Ah. Well then. Let me see... oh, go ahead. Tell me what the dreadful 200-pound problem is.

TIGER: Well I... erm... ok, fine. Here we go. I'll tell you. Ok. Yes. Where to start? Hmmm...

THERAPIST: Just spit it out!

Chapter Nine

“Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.”
- Rainer Maria Rilke