Nin ran blindly through the fog, away from the meadow and the foxes and their den. He ran so far and so fast that he became hopelessly lost, in the fog he could not tell up from down, left from right.
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Heart of the World
A soft breeze tickled Nin’s nose. He opened his eyes.
Shadows cast from the branches of a giant fig tree danced on the grass by his feet. A cobra lay sleeping peacefully, encircling Nin like a protective seal. A pale day-moon hung in the sky.
He had returned.
Continue readingOn The Moon
Nin woke from his trance to find himself someplace new.
It was an odd place, a place of stillness and quiet. The sky was dark and cloudless. The ground was a pale grey, speckled with pot-marks and small, strange craters. He took a few cautious steps forward. A thin coat of dust puffed and died with every step.
Continue readingMeditation
Nin sat beneath a lone fig tree and despaired. How had it come to this? How had he been led astray? What was preventing him from finding the truth that lies buried at the heart of the world?
Was there some flaw in him?
Continue readingReunion
Nin laid in a recovery ward, tended by the white rabbit and the black rabbit. His battle with the warlord had left him scarred and broken.
Continue readingWarlord (2)
The warlord loosed a bloodcurdling cry and summoned his terrible army. They crept from shadows, they crawled forth from the dark places of the earth, they marched in sync to the beating of the war drum.
Continue readingWarlord
Nin was dragged before the warlord. And as he looked around the war-room, he saw that the walls were adorned with the skulls of many creatures, keepsakes of the lord’s prior victories. And he wondered if his own head would soon be joining this collection.
Continue readingStarlings at Dusk
The starlings gathered at dusk, like a congregation assembling for evening prayer. From all directions they came, starting in groups of five or six, slowly amassing into a great swarm that danced and flickered like a great creature all of its own.
Continue readingThose Who Play Games
During his childhood, Nin played the games of children. Running, hopping, playing in the fields. Improvised games without set rules or boundaries, where being the winner meant very little, where mere participation was enough to spark joy.
Continue readingCarrot and Stick
Nin entered the lecture hall and took a seat in the front row. Today two esteemed thinkers were debating the best method of educating the young. It was the classic dilemma; one suggested rewarding good behaviour, the other favoured punished bad action.
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Crosstown Gate 