AN OBJECT LESSON IN TEMPERANCE

<!doctype html> <html xmlns:og="http://opengraphprotocol.org/schema/" xmlns:fb="http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml" lang="en-US" class="touch-styles"> <head> <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge,chrome=1"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">  <base href=""> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <title>AN OBJECT LESSON IN TEMPERANCE — NORTH OF REALITY</title> <meta http-equiv="Accept-CH" content="Sec-CH-UA-Platform-Version, Sec-CH-UA-Model" /><link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" href="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5558b21ee4b086d6f584650d/1464238315374-CIFSFW7GJH0PU5LGYDB1/favicon.ico?format=100w"/> <link rel="canonical" href="http://www.northofreality.com/tales/2020/12/20/an-object-lesson-in-temperance"/> <meta name="google-site-verification" content="9ggCzOnPh5ma4aWKt34K5fI4fOt61b_1ZQ2ZiQ86kis" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content=" NORTH OF REALITY"/> <meta property="og:title" content="AN OBJECT LESSON IN TEMPERANCE — NORTH OF REALITY"/> <meta property="og:latitude" content="40.7207559"/> <meta property="og:longitude" content="-74.0007613"/> <meta property="og:locality" content=""/> <meta property="og:url" content="http://www.northofreality.com/tales/2020/12/20/an-object-lesson-in-temperance"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:description" content="A marble statue of an angel hovered over the lagoon, with no physical connection to the Earth below. 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New species of microscopic life come into being a"/> <meta itemprop="thumbnailUrl" content="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5558b21ee4b086d6f584650d/t/574680f6859fd08a23a00606/1464238327943/North+Logo.png?format=1500w"/> <link rel="image_src" href="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5558b21ee4b086d6f584650d/t/574680f6859fd08a23a00606/1464238327943/North+Logo.png?format=1500w" /> <meta itemprop="image" content="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5558b21ee4b086d6f584650d/t/574680f6859fd08a23a00606/1464238327943/North+Logo.png?format=1500w"/> <meta itemprop="author" content="UEL ARAMCHEK"/> <meta itemprop="datePublished" content="2020-12-20T02:54:18-0600"/> <meta itemprop="dateModified" content="2020-12-20T02:54:19-0600"/> <meta itemprop="headline" content="AN OBJECT LESSON IN TEMPERANCE"/> <meta itemprop="publisher" content=" NORTH OF REALITY"/> <meta name="twitter:title" content="AN OBJECT LESSON IN TEMPERANCE — NORTH OF REALITY"/> <meta name="twitter:image" content="http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5558b21ee4b086d6f584650d/t/574680f6859fd08a23a00606/1464238327943/North+Logo.png?format=1500w"/> <meta name="twitter:url" content="http://www.northofreality.com/tales/2020/12/20/an-object-lesson-in-temperance"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"/> <meta name="twitter:description" content="A marble statue of an angel hovered over the lagoon, with no physical connection to the Earth below. Water poured forth from an amphora in her motionless hands, spilling endlessly down. “From this point, the potentiality of all creation spills forth. New species of microscopic life come into being a"/> <meta name="description" content="A marble statue of an angel hovered over the lagoon, with no physical connection to the Earth below. Water poured forth from an amphora in her motionless hands, spilling endlessly down. “From this point, the potentiality of all creation spills forth. New species of microscopic life come into being and disappear in moments. Only a fraction of a fraction can survive, but every few centuries, one endures, and begins to spread through the waters of the world.” The Fountain of Youth. 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</div> </div> <div class="main-content blog-view-item clearfix"> <input id="show-comments" type="checkbox" /> <article id="article-5fdf0c0ba3b92b153c310029" class="entry--item h-entry clearfix hentry tag-a-fools-journey tag-the-last-segment tag-further-north author-uel-aramchek post-type-text"> <div class="blog-item-content-wrapper" data-controller="BlogProgressBar"> <div class="pie-wrapper" id="pieWrapper"> <div class="pie pie--left" id="pieLeft"></div> <div class="pie pie--right hide" id="pieRight"></div> <div class="mask mask--right hide" id="pieMask"></div> <div class="mask mask--left" id="maskLeft"></div> </div> <div class="blog-item-content e-content"><div class="sqs-layout sqs-grid-12 columns-12" data-layout-label="Post Body" data-type="item" data-updated-on="1608454458743" id="item-5fdf0c0ba3b92b153c310029"><div class="row sqs-row"><div class="col sqs-col-12 span-12"><div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1608453107354_44188"><div class="sqs-block-content"> <div class="sqs-html-content"> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">A marble statue of an angel hovered over the lagoon, with no physical connection to the Earth below. Water poured forth from an amphora in her motionless hands, spilling endlessly down. “From this point, the potentiality of all creation spills forth. New species of microscopic life come into being and disappear in moments. Only a fraction of a fraction can survive, but every few centuries, one endures, and begins to spread through the waters of the world.”</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">The Fountain of Youth. And in fucking Florida, no less.</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">“How old will I be after I drink?”</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">“The waters seek stability. They will bring your body to the exact age you were at the moment your childhood ended.”</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">“I cannot tell you what that moment is for you. But you can always turn back. The waters will continue to perform the miracle they always have, whether or not there are any to witness.”</p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;">“And I came here for those miracles, not your riddles. Fuck you.” The explorer placed his hands beneath the impossible stream, one over the other, then slurped their contents like a raw oyster. And he ceased to exist, for his childhood had never ended.</p> </div> </div></div><div class="sqs-block horizontalrule-block sqs-block-horizontalrule" data-block-type="47" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1608453107354_18059"><div class="sqs-block-content"><hr /></div></div><div class="sqs-block html-block sqs-block-html" data-block-type="2" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1608453107354_18122"><div class="sqs-block-content"> <div class="sqs-html-content"> <p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><br><em>There is a certain strain of magic that </em><a href="http://www.northofreality.com/tales/2015/10/26/down-and-to-the-side"><em>only children ever experience</em></a><em>.</em></p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><em>And some things from childhood </em><a href="http://www.northofreality.com/tales/2016/1/25/the-art-of-monstering?rq=child"><em>are best not revisited</em></a><em>.</em></p><p class="" style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.northofreality.com/tales/2016/1/20/bloody-mary"><em>Some moreso than others</em></a><em>.</em><br></p> </div> </div></div><div class="sqs-block horizontalrule-block sqs-block-horizontalrule" data-block-type="47" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1608453107354_19699"><div class="sqs-block-content"><hr /></div></div><div class="sqs-block summary-v2-block sqs-block-summary-v2" data-block-json="{"collectionId":"5558bbe7e4b0607a0baeecd4","design":"carousel","headerText":"FURTHER NORTH","textSize":"small","pageSize":30,"imageAspectRatio":"1.5","columnWidth":270,"gutter":60,"listImageSize":30,"listImageAlignment":"left","slidesPerRow":3,"textAlignment":"left","showTitle":true,"showThumbnail":true,"showExcerpt":true,"showReadMoreLink":true,"showPrice":true,"productQuickViewEnabled":false,"showPastOrUpcomingEvents":"upcoming","metadataPosition":"below-title","primaryMetadata":"date","secondaryMetadata":"none","filter":{"categoryIds":null,"tag":"further north"},"autoCrop":true,"lightbox":false,"mixedContent":true,"blockId":"bb95b53983a39e7709e2","hSize":null,"floatDir":null}" data-block-type="55" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1608453107354_20066"><div class="sqs-block-content"> <div class=" summary-block-wrapper summary-block-collection-type-blog summary-block-setting-text-size-small summary-block-setting-text-align-left summary-block-setting-design-carousel summary-block-setting-design-list-thumbnail-left summary-block-setting-metadata-position-below-title summary-block-setting-primary-metadata-date summary-block-setting-secondary-metadata-none summary-block-setting-show-thumbnail summary-block-setting-show-title summary-block-setting-show-price summary-block-setting-show-excerpt summary-block-setting-show-read-more-link sqs-gallery-design-carousel " > <div class="summary-item-list-container sqs-gallery-container"> <header class="summary-block-header"> <div class="summary-heading" data-animation-role="content"> <span class="summary-header-text">FURTHER NORTH</span> </div> <div class="summary-carousel-pager sqs-gallery-controls" data-animation-role="content"> <span class="summary-carousel-pager-prev previous" tabindex="0" role="button" aria-label="Previous" ></span> <span class="summary-carousel-pager-next next" tabindex="0" role="button" aria-label="Next" ></span> </div> </header> <div class="summary-item-list sqs-gallery"> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2020-12-20">Dec 20, 2020</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2020/12/20/an-object-lesson-in-temperance" class="summary-title-link">AN OBJECT LESSON IN TEMPERANCE</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2020-12-20">Dec 20, 2020</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p class="">A marble statue of an angel hovered over the lagoon, with no physical connection to the Earth below. Water poured forth from an amphora in her motionless hands, spilling endlessly down. “From this point, the potentiality of all creation spills forth. New species of microscopic life come into being and disappear in moments. Only a fraction of a fraction can survive, but every few centuries, one endures, and begins to spread through the waters of the world.”</p><p class="">The Fountain of Youth. And in fucking Florida, no less.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2020/12/20/an-object-lesson-in-temperance" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2020-12-20">Dec 20, 2020</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2020-11-15">Nov 15, 2020</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2020/11/15/a-bit-of-a-stretch" class="summary-title-link">A BIT OF A STRETCH</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2020-11-15">Nov 15, 2020</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p class="">“This limousine is endlessly long. Were you to reach the front, you would be at the end of space and beginning of time.”</p><p class="">“But there is a driver?”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2020/11/15/a-bit-of-a-stretch" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2020-11-15">Nov 15, 2020</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-10-29">Oct 29, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2017/10/29/the-myrmecoleon-effect" class="summary-title-link">THE MYRMECOLEON EFFECT</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-10-29">Oct 29, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The antlion is unique among modern animalia in that its evolution resulted not from a mutation within its genetic code, but rather, within the spelling of its name. Sometime during the legendary translation of the Septuagint from Hebrew into Greek for Ptolemy II, an old Hebrew variant of 'lion' used in the Book of Job was warped into the bizarre word 'myrmecoleon,' a portmanteau of the terms for 'ant' and 'lion.'</p></div> <a href="/tales/2017/10/29/the-myrmecoleon-effect" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-10-29">Oct 29, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-04-14">Apr 14, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2017/4/14/palimpsest" class="summary-title-link">PALIMPSEST</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-04-14">Apr 14, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>"Before paper was easy to come by, scrolls and books would be rinsed of their ink so that their pages could be reused when the original copies no longer had an audience.” A dash of lampblack bitters left a squid trail through his whiskey and vermouth. "Even after their removal, however, the molecules of ink would continue to cluster in a similar geometric manner. Because of this, most of the information was retained in the ink itself long after it had been wrung from the text.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2017/4/14/palimpsest" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-04-14">Apr 14, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-02-17">Feb 17, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2017/2/17/magic-window" class="summary-title-link">MAGIC WINDOW</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-02-17">Feb 17, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p><em>Geogaddi</em>, Boards of Canada’s sophomore album, was engineered so as to last for exactly sixty-six minutes and six seconds. Their fixation on the repetition sixes is clear throughout its content, right down to the title of track sixteen: “The Devil is in the Details.” Even the cover art is composed entirely of six-sided figures, a seemingly endless kaleidonoid procession of hexagons within hexagons. When the LP suddenly emerged in 2002, it debuted at a collection of six churches worldwide, in a ritual of unknown intent.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2017/2/17/magic-window" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-02-17">Feb 17, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-01-27">Jan 27, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2017/1/27/the-shell-of-the-black-conch" class="summary-title-link">THE SHELL OF THE BLACK CONCH</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-01-27">Jan 27, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The average seashell found along a shoreline is fixed at the same frequency as the body of water that birthed it. When held to the ear, the same, steady undulation of waves can be heard, sliding in and out of time. For this reason, they make excellent souvenirs for tourists, providing instant access to memories of better climes.</p><p>Meanwhile, the spiraling apex of a black conch’s shell can be twisted in several places like a radio’s dial. The larger the mussel, the more precision that can be attained while tuning its abandoned hermitage.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2017/1/27/the-shell-of-the-black-conch" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-01-27">Jan 27, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-01-12">Jan 12, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2017/1/12/long-in-the-tooth" class="summary-title-link">LONG IN THE TOOTH</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-01-12">Jan 12, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>Among alligators and crocodiles alike, there exist elders who remember the flavor of mammoth's blood, and even some whose gnarled backs bear scars from the fire of an asteroid's impact. Their kind have persisted for untold millions of years, long enough for evolution to nest their brains within our own like matryoshka dolls.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2017/1/12/long-in-the-tooth" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-01-12">Jan 12, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-01-05">Jan 5, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2017/1/5/lucigens" class="summary-title-link">LUCIGENS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-01-05">Jan 5, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The human body is not a mere brain-driven machine of nerve and bone. Every subsection of its anatomy is an independent ecosystem of organisms (or organism-like structures), each with their own motivations and metabolisms. Though much of this zoology occurs beneath a veil of skin, it is still a phenomenon that can be seen with the naked eye. When one looks upward into cloudless daylight, they just might see the spectral outlines of lifeforms known as lucigens.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2017/1/5/lucigens" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-01-05">Jan 5, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-29">Nov 29, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/11/29/the-blood-of-the-lamb" class="summary-title-link">THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-29">Nov 29, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>In the lands east of the Ural Mountains, there is said to have once grown a plant whose fruit was a fully-grown lamb fastened to the soil by its umbilical stem. To some, this beast was known as the <em>borometz</em>, and to others, as the <em>Yeduah</em>. It survived by grazing on the grasses surrounding its roots, though it could never wander beyond its own tether to the earth below. Any separation from this stem would result in its immediate death.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/11/29/the-blood-of-the-lamb" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-29">Nov 29, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-18">Nov 18, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/11/18/thataway" class="summary-title-link">THATAWAY</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-18">Nov 18, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>"From what you've described to me, it sounds like your brain is undergoing rapid shifts in chirality." The doctor's eyes were focused on his tablet. “Like you’re suddenly trading places with the other side of the mirror, yes?“</p><p>“Yeah, that’s one way to put it. But what could cause something like that?"</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/11/18/thataway" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-18">Nov 18, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-14">Nov 14, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/11/14/the-invention-of-kissing" class="summary-title-link">THE INVENTION OF KISSING</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-14">Nov 14, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>Kissing was invented in the city of Thusk, a seaport with thousands of citizens, yet only one dentist. Her services were scarcely needed, for the civic biologists had rendered most of her profession obsolete.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/11/14/the-invention-of-kissing" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-14">Nov 14, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-09">Nov 9, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/11/9/polybius" class="summary-title-link">POLYBIUS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-09">Nov 9, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>I wanted to believe the tales of Polybius, the arcade game that drove its own players to madness. It was the perfect urban legend, for the details of its telling reinforced its own state of unverifiable limbo. Any and all cabinets which may or may not have once existed were seized by the powers that be, leaving an empty-handed public to speculate about whether or not they’d ever actually been there to begin with.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/11/9/polybius" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-09">Nov 9, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-04">Nov 4, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/11/4/hyperboleon" class="summary-title-link">HYPERBOLEON</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-04">Nov 4, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>There are two separate sources of gravity competing for control of the city of Hyperboleon. These operate perpendicularly to one another, drawing objects towards two separate grounds whose horizons meet at a right angle.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/11/4/hyperboleon" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-11-04">Nov 4, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-thumbnail summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-thumbnail-outer-container"> <a href="/tales/2016/10/26/scriveners-crystals" class=" summary-thumbnail-container sqs-gallery-image-container " data-title="SCRIVENER'S CRYSTALS" data-description="" > <div class="summary-thumbnail img-wrapper" data-animation-role="image" style="">  <img data-src="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5558b21ee4b086d6f584650d/1618374586670-B50P12QLUNCQOKLE3TYL/10-SCRIVENER%27S-CRYSTALS.png" data-image="https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5558b21ee4b086d6f584650d/1618374586670-B50P12QLUNCQOKLE3TYL/10-SCRIVENER%27S-CRYSTALS.png" data-image-dimensions="800x800" data-image-focal-point="0.5,0.5" alt="10-SCRIVENER'S-CRYSTALS.png" data-load="false" class="summary-thumbnail-image" elementtiming="summary-thumbnail-image-carousel" /> </div> </a>  </div> <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-10-26">Oct 26, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/10/26/scriveners-crystals" class="summary-title-link">SCRIVENER'S CRYSTALS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-10-26">Oct 26, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The glyphs of the Folorsine alphabet are neither read horizontally, nor vertically; they march towards the eye as a procession of phosphenes, parading one after the other through the iris’s gates. This is not a language that is interpreted from a page, so much as swallowed by the brain. It is still actively used, though its spoken form has not been heard for centuries.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/10/26/scriveners-crystals" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-10-26">Oct 26, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-09-14">Sep 14, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/9/14/loose-ends" class="summary-title-link">LOOSE ENDS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-09-14">Sep 14, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>“Hey, you! Your eyes are untied.”</p><p>Decades have passed since she first uttered those words to me. We were in Kindergarten then, yet she spoke them with such certainty that, even as an adult, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she had meant something by them. Whenever I’d ask her to explain what she meant, however, she’d just smile and laugh at me, as though it were obvious. What was it, I wondered, that she could see, yet I could not?</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/9/14/loose-ends" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-09-14">Sep 14, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-09-07">Sep 7, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/9/7/oldest-trick-in-the-book" class="summary-title-link">OLDEST TRICK IN THE BOOK</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-09-07">Sep 7, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>Together, they gazed into the galaxy of colorful orbs behind the glass. “Every gumball dreams of growing up to become a planet,” the goddess told him. “They are child worlds, waiting to be adopted by a sun; but, as you might imagine, almost none among them will survive long enough to see their dreams come true.”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/9/7/oldest-trick-in-the-book" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-09-07">Sep 7, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-24">Aug 24, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/8/24/chemtrails" class="summary-title-link">CHEMTRAILS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-24">Aug 24, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>An irregular grid of clouds formed in the evening sky, simultaneously violet and orange.</p><p>“They’re killing us,” she told me. “The jets are spewing cancer out of their tails.”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/8/24/chemtrails" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-24">Aug 24, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-17">Aug 17, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/8/17/that-great-tomb-that-knows-no-sound" class="summary-title-link">THAT GREAT TOMB THAT KNOWS NO SOUND</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-17">Aug 17, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The Hoover Dam is said to be filled with human bones. So the story goes, during its construction, workers who fell into the structure’s wet concrete were left inside, as those in charge believed that the cost and risk of retrieving their bodies would be too great. For those who believe this tale, the dam doubles as a colossal tombstone for those buried within.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/8/17/that-great-tomb-that-knows-no-sound" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-17">Aug 17, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-09">Aug 9, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/8/9/a-dimension-of-mind" class="summary-title-link">A DIMENSION OF MIND</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-09">Aug 9, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>Imagine, for a moment, a broadcast of the original <em>Twilight Zone</em> where Rod Serling never appears. In such an episode, the characters within are forced to contend with a reality that, without warning, is subjected to the influence of a “fifth dimension,” where the laws of humanity lose all meaning. After being assailed by this anomaly for roughly half an hour, its influence fades away, and the world continues rotating onward.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/8/9/a-dimension-of-mind" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-09">Aug 9, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-07-21">Jul 21, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/7/21/north-of-reality" class="summary-title-link">NORTH OF REALITY</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-07-21">Jul 21, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The captain’s wrist bore a living tattoo of a compass rose; as the icy waves tossed her vessel about, its ink contorted so that its longest petal would always point north. Its pigment conspired with the iron in her blood to reveal the world’s magnetic winds. It hadn’t yet proven useful on this journey, as the <em>tramontana</em> had been making itself obvious for weeks, yet she knew that it would soon become a necessity.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/7/21/north-of-reality" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-07-21">Jul 21, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-07-01">Jul 1, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/7/1/a-coyotes-meager-enlightenment" class="summary-title-link">THAT'S ALL, FOLKS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-07-01">Jul 1, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The coyote awoke one morning to find that his roadrunner was gone.</p><p>He’d disappeared, beyond the asymptotic horizon which outlined their desert, that unreachable boundary between two nowheres. Together, as predator and prey, they’d followed the same highway westward for thousands of miles, always encroaching on that same horizon, yet finding no end to the repetition of sagebrush and sand.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/7/1/a-coyotes-meager-enlightenment" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-07-01">Jul 1, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-21">Jun 21, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/6/21/control-character" class="summary-title-link">A CONTROL CHARACTER</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-21">Jun 21, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>“The ASCII standard begins with a set of control characters,” she explained. “If you type the last of these on a modern computer, an invisible character is added, one that usually doesn’t do anything. It’s a relic from another time called the ‘delete’ character, number 127. These days, programmers sometimes use it as a placeholder, but for the most part, it’s obsolete.”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/6/21/control-character" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-21">Jun 21, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-17">Jun 17, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/6/17/buoyancy" class="summary-title-link">TEMPORAL BUOYANCY</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-17">Jun 17, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The human mind does not actually move forward through time; it is far more accurate to say that it sinks through it. The passage of time is a constant, ambient force like gravity, rather than a willful motion. When one closes their eyes and attempts to resist it, there is no traction or grip to be found that might stall the inevitable descent.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/6/17/buoyancy" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-17">Jun 17, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-13">Jun 13, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/6/13/on-haunted-houses" class="summary-title-link">ON HAUNTED HOUSES</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-13">Jun 13, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>Objects wrought from wood occasionally remember being alive. The circuits of their quiet minds can be seen in the contours of the grain, sleepily churning through memories. No matter how deeply carved, sawn, milled, or polished, there is always an aspect of the original arbor that endures. What remains is no longer alive, of course, but it is more than capable of haunting.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/6/13/on-haunted-houses" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-13">Jun 13, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-09">Jun 9, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/6/9/on-gremlins" class="summary-title-link">ON GREMLINS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-09">Jun 9, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>Gremlins are known to live in the engines of airplanes, the spindles of hard drives, and the pipes of boiler rooms. No space within human industry has ever proven hostile enough to prevent their occupation, making them some of the hardiest lifeforms on this planet. Furthermore, they are notoriously difficult to capture, or even to spot; their presence is only ever known in hindsight, evidenced by chewed-through wires, rust-addled screws, and corrupted data.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/6/9/on-gremlins" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-09">Jun 9, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-05-21">May 21, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/5/21/gabriels-horn" class="summary-title-link">GABRIEL'S HORN</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-05-21">May 21, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>Some mathematicians go so far as to call their work the language of God. In their hubris, they refuse to admit that they write in a language that is very human: one with its own idioms, clichés, and platitudes. In order to prove supposed mathematical truth, they routinely employ the same handful of phrases and arguments, yet are startled when these phrases and arguments are echoed back to them in the same language that they began with.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/5/21/gabriels-horn" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-05-21">May 21, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-05-18">May 18, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/5/18/the-mirror-whale" class="summary-title-link">THE MIRROR WHALE</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-05-18">May 18, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>“At first, we thought that our fortunes had changed,” his journal begins. “We saw what we thought was a whale breaching when a jet of vapor erupted from the waters along our ship’s port side. As we readied our harpoons, however, we found that the geyser seemed to have no source but the surface of the ocean itself. One of the other sailors exclaimed that it must have been a ‘mirror whale,’ meaning that both sides of its blowhole were on the outside of its body. As such, there was nothing for us to see or kill.”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/5/18/the-mirror-whale" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-05-18">May 18, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-04-28">Apr 28, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/4/28/thirteen-experiments-involving-parrots" class="summary-title-link">THIRTEEN EXPERIMENTS INVOLVING PARROTS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-04-28">Apr 28, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>There exists an incantation which, if uttered properly, can duplicate the mind and body of whosoever dares to utter it. There exists another, similar in nature, which allows one’s own reflection to be drawn out of any mirror. Lastly, there is one which causes a perfect opposite of the self to appear in juxtaposition with the original, causing both to immediately cease to exist.</p><p>As it turns out, all three of these incantations can be learned by parrots.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/4/28/thirteen-experiments-involving-parrots" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-04-28">Apr 28, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-04-23">Apr 23, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/4/23/how-it-all-ends" class="summary-title-link">HOW IT ALL ENDS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-04-23">Apr 23, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The end of the world is neither exactly a time or a place; rather, it is a four-dimensional surface, curved and chaotic, which courts the path of the planet on its journey through space-time. Were one to visualize it using only three dimensions, it would seem almost ribbon-like, a black helix of fluttering death. Asteroids entangled by this dark fabric are certain to be drawn into the Earth’s gravitational pull.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/4/23/how-it-all-ends" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-04-23">Apr 23, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-04-11">Apr 11, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/4/11/on-jellybeans" class="summary-title-link">ON JELLYBEANS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-04-11">Apr 11, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>During the first phase of manufacturing, jellybeans are perfectly transparent. In this preliminary state, they look like misplaced contact lenses, or raindrops that failed to burst on impact. These beans have no flavor of their own, yet contain the potential for all flavors; when bitten, there is only that familiar texture of a tender shell giving way, followed by that of semi-molten starch oozing apart.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/4/11/on-jellybeans" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-04-11">Apr 11, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div><div class="sqs-block summary-v2-block sqs-block-summary-v2" data-block-json="{"collectionId":"5558bbe7e4b0607a0baeecd4","design":"carousel","headerText":"A FOOL'S JOURNEY","textSize":"small","pageSize":10,"imageAspectRatio":"1.5","columnWidth":270,"gutter":60,"listImageSize":30,"listImageAlignment":"left","slidesPerRow":3,"textAlignment":"left","showTitle":true,"showThumbnail":true,"showExcerpt":true,"showReadMoreLink":true,"showPrice":true,"productQuickViewEnabled":false,"showPastOrUpcomingEvents":"upcoming","metadataPosition":"below-title","primaryMetadata":"date","secondaryMetadata":"none","filter":{"categoryIds":null,"tag":"a fool's journey"},"autoCrop":true,"lightbox":false,"mixedContent":true,"blockId":"5871c5ef645c208708aa","hSize":null,"floatDir":null}" data-block-type="55" id="block-yui_3_17_2_1_1608453107354_46871"><div class="sqs-block-content"> <div class=" summary-block-wrapper summary-block-collection-type-blog summary-block-setting-text-size-small summary-block-setting-text-align-left summary-block-setting-design-carousel summary-block-setting-design-list-thumbnail-left summary-block-setting-metadata-position-below-title summary-block-setting-primary-metadata-date summary-block-setting-secondary-metadata-none summary-block-setting-show-thumbnail summary-block-setting-show-title summary-block-setting-show-price summary-block-setting-show-excerpt summary-block-setting-show-read-more-link sqs-gallery-design-carousel " > <div class="summary-item-list-container sqs-gallery-container"> <header class="summary-block-header"> <div class="summary-heading" data-animation-role="content"> <span class="summary-header-text">A FOOL'S JOURNEY</span> </div> <div class="summary-carousel-pager sqs-gallery-controls" data-animation-role="content"> <span class="summary-carousel-pager-prev previous" tabindex="0" role="button" aria-label="Previous" ></span> <span class="summary-carousel-pager-next next" tabindex="0" role="button" aria-label="Next" ></span> </div> </header> <div class="summary-item-list sqs-gallery"> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2020-12-20">Dec 20, 2020</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2020/12/20/an-object-lesson-in-temperance" class="summary-title-link">AN OBJECT LESSON IN TEMPERANCE</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2020-12-20">Dec 20, 2020</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p class="">A marble statue of an angel hovered over the lagoon, with no physical connection to the Earth below. Water poured forth from an amphora in her motionless hands, spilling endlessly down. “From this point, the potentiality of all creation spills forth. New species of microscopic life come into being and disappear in moments. Only a fraction of a fraction can survive, but every few centuries, one endures, and begins to spread through the waters of the world.”</p><p class="">The Fountain of Youth. And in fucking Florida, no less.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2020/12/20/an-object-lesson-in-temperance" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2020-12-20">Dec 20, 2020</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-02-10">Feb 10, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2017/2/10/candledark" class="summary-title-link">CANDLEDARK</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-02-10">Feb 10, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The candles that surrounded the bed were made from the oil of a sperm whale's shadow. I had heard that such things were possible to obtain, in places of immense darkness; hunts for giant squid took these creatures to abyssopelagic depths, where oceanic pressures rendered their shadows too heavy to return to the surface. Once abandoned, they sank until they were made solid, whales unto themselves before being dissolved by the sun upon ascending for air.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2017/2/10/candledark" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2017-02-10">Feb 10, 2017</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-15">Aug 15, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/8/15/the-quick-and-dirty-way" class="summary-title-link">THE QUICK AND DIRTY WAY</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-15">Aug 15, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>“The plan is to make you a god,” she told me, machete in hand. Her eyes blinked with vertical lids.</p><p>“A god, huh?” I twisted my hands together in their bindings, hoping they’d give way. “And what, might I ask, will I be the god of?”</p><p>“That all depends on what’s currently available.”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/8/15/the-quick-and-dirty-way" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-08-15">Aug 15, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-06">Jun 6, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/6/6/baraqels-prism" class="summary-title-link">BARAQEL'S PRISM</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-06">Jun 6, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>“The prism divides humanity into its seven wavelengths,” the angel told me. “Mind, body, shadow, voice, echo, identity, and ghost. Step through the glass, and you shall learn which of these you truly are.”</p><p>I thought about what it meant for body and ghost to separate, let alone all of these at once. “Won't that kill me?"</p><p>“I can’t answer that question for you,” it replied. “Death is a vague, human expression for things we have other words for. Once you’ve arrived on the other side, you’ll be able to decide for yourself whether or not you’re dead.”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/6/6/baraqels-prism" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-06-06">Jun 6, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-05-04">May 4, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/5/4/the-gravediggers-almanac" class="summary-title-link">THE GRAVEDIGGER'S ALMANAC</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-05-04">May 4, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>“Someday, the dead will rise from the earth,” the gravedigger spoke. “Everyone who deals in corpses knows this to be true, whether or not they’ll admit it.”</p><p>“How can you be so certain?”</p><p>“We plant them like seeds for a reason, my friend."</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/5/4/the-gravediggers-almanac" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-05-04">May 4, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-03-11">Mar 11, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/3/11/then-before-if" class="summary-title-link">THEN BEFORE IF</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-03-11">Mar 11, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">“What I’ve done in life cannot be changed,” I told her, gazing into the fire. “The future is full of possibility, but the men I have killed know no such luxury- the stories of their lives are told and done.”</p><p>“You know nothing of fate, then, child.” The priestess rested her chin upon my shoulder, then wrapped her arms about my waist. “The future is immutable, and to one such as me, always visible. But the past? Ah, it is beyond me, for it is still being decided.”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/3/11/then-before-if" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-03-11">Mar 11, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-02-29">Feb 29, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/2/29/by-whats-missing" class="summary-title-link">BY WHAT'S MISSING</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-02-29">Feb 29, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>The bone trader opened his cloak, revealing to me that there was nothing but a skeleton beneath. Not everything inside was human in nature; his left ribs were parentheses of ivory, and those on the right had been replaced in their entirety by a caribou’s antler. There were copper bones in his legs that had once belonged to machine men, and rosewood vertebrae interspersed throughout his spine.</p><p>“Everything that you see here is open to trade, two or more of yours for one of mine.”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/2/29/by-whats-missing" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-02-29">Feb 29, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-01-22">Jan 22, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2016/1/22/the-gordian-serpent" class="summary-title-link">THE GORDIAN SERPENT</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-01-22">Jan 22, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p style="margin-left:0px; margin-right:0px">“God doesn’t truly hate serpents, despite what happened in the garden.” The old magician thumbed through his Bible. “Not all of them, anyway. Serpents that lead virtuous lives are allowed to serve as the scabbards of angels after death. Those that lead lives of sin, however, are hammered by demons into swords.”</p><p>“I tend to think that I would rather be a sword than a scabbard,” I added.</p><p>“Then you’d make a terrible serpent.”</p></div> <a href="/tales/2016/1/22/the-gordian-serpent" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2016-01-22">Jan 22, 2016</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-item summary-item-record-type-text sqs-gallery-design-carousel-slide summary-item-has-excerpt summary-item-has-tags summary-item-has-author summary-item-has-comments-enabled " > <div class="summary-content sqs-gallery-meta-container" data-animation-role="content"> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--above-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2015-11-16">Nov 16, 2015</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class="summary-title"> <a href="/tales/2015/11/16/on-the-taxonomy-of-devils" class="summary-title-link">ON THE TAXONOMY OF DEVILS</a></div> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-title"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2015-11-16">Nov 16, 2015</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> <div class=" summary-excerpt summary-excerpt-only "><p>I once heard that every warm-blooded species has its own devil; just as there is a devil of humans, there is a devil of wolves, and a devil of owls. They only appear among their own kind, and thus elude zoological study, but the results of their cruel pacts can be found in the depths of our world’s wilderness.</p></div> <a href="/tales/2015/11/16/on-the-taxonomy-of-devils" class="summary-read-more-link">Read More →</a> <div class="summary-metadata-container summary-metadata-container--below-content"> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--primary">  <time class="summary-metadata-item summary-metadata-item--date" datetime="2015-11-16">Nov 16, 2015</time> </div> <div class="summary-metadata summary-metadata--secondary"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div></div></div></div></div></div> <footer class="blog-item-footer"> <div class="footer-meta"> <div class="blog-meta-item blog-meta-author"><a href="/tales?author=5558b21ce4b0c104f8293482" class="blog-author-name">UEL ARAMCHEK</a></div> <div class="blog-item-tags"> <a href="/tales/tag/a+fool%27s+journey" class="blog-item-tag blog-item-tag--a-fools-journey" 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AN OBJECT LESSON IN TEMPERANCE — NORTH OF REALITY