"Almost Green"

Pictures Of Home

Time in a cerulean tinted bottle, lightning inside a wine glass.

Sand for a clock, Rew. It's an hourglass. Ever had something like this in your hand? Given everything I know about your cheap ass, you probably have.

It goes up, it goes down.

You flip it around, it switches right back. Some people care too much about the flow, so they keep it half tilted.

Some people don't care. They let it flow vertically.

See? The grains sieving through that tiny little hole? That's all we amount to in the end, I guess. Very nihilistic views about it all, I'd say. Why think about it like that? Why translate your existence into sand? You're not sand until someone puts you there. You and I know a little something about that, don't we? Don't we, Drew? Atta boy.

It flows fast. See? You blink, and the top half of the hourglass is already empty. That's how long it takes someone to decide between yes and no.

That's how little time it takes to choose between life and death. How miniscule the window of opportunity actually is.

You can take it, and you can touch it. You can spin it in your hands, but you can never fully understand the implications of your choice. You may think you do, but that's never the case. See this?

This hourglass.

The fact it keeps going, that's the only proof we have of the true stupidity of our brains. Look, I'll flip it.

Whoop. All gone.

And that's how long it takes for the mind to decide on something, usually. Do you think a good decision could ever be made in that tiny split of a second? I don't, for once.

And that's how we plow through life, usually. No bullshit, no nothing, just flipping the hourglass for Law knows how many times a day, and acting like we're actually thinking anything through. Pose someone with a choice, they'll make up their mind in one cycle of the sand and then stand there, looking stupid and acting like they're thinking. It's all just to put off the inevitable.

No matter what they think they're deciding between has been chosen subconsciously the second they've laid their eyes upon it.

Isn't that the case?

Isn't it, Drew?

When was your decision first made, huh?

Was it the posters we saw around the hallways?

Were it the radio reports? The constant buzz of call-to-arms nonsense?

When did you flip your hourglass, exactly?

I know for a fact it wasn't the orchard hill. It wasn't the monastery either.

It was there, brewing inside of you for who knows how long. Just waiting for an outlet. Nagging for a bite.

And how long did it take?

As I said – just one flip.

Like this.

Whoop.

And you were gone. Bleary eyed and dumbed beyond human comprehension. Caught in the mirage of your delusions and animated by a gustling of non-existent wind.

All of that, with just one flip.

One, single flip.

...

That's why I like to cheat it a little. I don't play by the rules, you oughta guessed by now.

When most flip the hourglass, they either leave it vertical or slightly tilted. Some cheat it even more, they tilt it further than the rest.