Now nothing's out of reach...

As with any story worth telling, it was, in the end, a tragic one. What do we say of those who burn too brightly? Do we shield our eyes or turn our heads when the glare makes us uncomfortable? No, we cannot. We must watch the explosion without movement or blinking, all the way through the afterglow. Take with us the memory of what once was. In all its glory and intensity.

The truth can have a funny way of revealing itself. One would like to think, in all its undeniable power, it would always be obvious. Either golden, a glorious beam that parts the clouds and lights the way, or totally hideous, a nasty pit that opens up in the earth, completely dark save the thyroid eyes and teeth of those terrible monsters that reside there. But it can be sneakier than these. It can be pernicious. It can creep in like smoke, slowly but unwavering, until all that’s left is that blackness that one would expect in the pit, but instead of the monsters, it’s the thing itself that begins to kill you, only from the inside out.