away but together

law sat across and folded his hands. his eyes beckoned me to describe the dream.

she got married - later scene, different situation, we were cuddling before a movie, head down on her lap; inner trappings of my thoughts, a subtle representation of things on my mind?

law didn't say anything and instead vanished.

we went to meditate before sleep in the first hour of new year's.

--

as much as you love them, you also want to get away from them.

"imagine a smooth lake before you," ev began, "so smooth, the surface looks like glass, not a ripple across the sky's refl– "

"no," law cuts in, pushing her aside. I keep my eyes closed in the process. "don't imagine. open your eyes. it's there."

I open, and the glassy surface is before my feet. musty woods surround the portal of the lake. I bend down and touch a finger to its surface...

tiny waves glide across like figure skaters, bouncing and colliding to form some unintelligible pattern.

the moment I lift my finger out, the skaters vanish. the ripples stabilize as though they never were.

law nods as he watches. all the rage seems to have left and sunk to the depth of the lake in that soft touch. my finger isn't even wet.

I sit back in the chair. after I sit, strangely, I find my feet on the surface of the water, still glassy smooth. the chair's front legs are in the lake also. the chair wasn't there before.

"don't turn around. instead, close your eyes." law advises, but his voice seems farther away. I can tell that I am not where I was. I feel as though I'm in the middle of the lake.

I close my eyes. the smoothness of the lake can be felt through the pores of my skin.

the chair tilts forward and I plunge in. I open my eyes -

not underwater, not in the sky, but back in my room, with law and ev there, by my side, as though nothing happened.

together, in all our journeys, regardless of whoever is outside this bedroom's door.

--

those shrieks and absurd songs out the door and downstairs. go away, law and ev say, to the noises about. that internal peace should not be disturbed by...

those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.

"to think them beneath you, yet still look up to them and constantly keep yourself in check. their words have no bearing - only you are you." law says, one hand on zy shoulder. tell them, "don't tell me what I should do; I am me and you are you; you may make recommendations, and I may consider; but in the end, this mind is my nation, and no one else is allowed."