text: One night while I groggily layed in bed a man came to me, from the corner of the room he watched, it seemed as though he thought I was sleep. The element of surprise seemed to be on my side and in any other situation I would have pounced like a lioness protecting her cubs, but this man was different. Despite his tattered, black cloak and the fact that he magically appeared in my room, his body language was not that of any intruder or a man that wished to do harm...he just observed. For what seemed like hours we watched each other, both barely more mobile than a corpse. The longer I watched the more I realized how odd this “man” was. His skin was abnormally pale, nearly transparent, but his body had a golden glow to it. A sparkly, golden glow. It appeared to come from the inside of him. Now mind you, this light did not fill the room, it just merely tinted the white walls, making them appear slightly yellow. That wasn’t the only oddity. His eyes had no pupil, no iris. They were simply glossed over with white, identical to his skin, there was a darker gold, sparkly glow bursting through. It illuminated the room about the same as a flip phone. To both of our surprise, there was a scratch at my bedroom door, likely my dog, we both immediately darted our eyes in the direction of the disturbance and right as my head turned I realized how big of a mistake that was. I snapped my head back in his direction...but he was gone. Poof. This filled me with a weird sense of disappointment and relief. I brushed my hands over my eyes, partly trying to wake myself up. The other part was trying to trick myself into believing what I saw was a lie. The moment I felt free of all the bedtime crusty eyes, I removed my hand from my vision. He was there! Millimeters from my face, if he had a nose, we would have been nose-to-nose. My lips parted for a scream but my body went completely tight, like I had been tased. Now in this moment of absolute terror things became clear. For ten seconds, I was filled with pure observational clarity. Listen to me. Imagine a cluster of beautiful, bright stars glued together by a magnificent golden glow; now wrap that in a nearly transparent, tan saran wrap...that is what stood before me. This mummified entity had taken the shape of man and he stood, staring me down with what I could only assume was an intense anger. The thump of my heart slowed as I completely submitted to the inevitable, gruesome fate... “Can you see me?” Shock washed over my body as the rhythmic monotone fell upon my ears. My eyes shot open, shock turned to wonder... Did he expect a reply? “You can.” His eyes briefly brightened the room before dimming back their normal illumination. “This is a...problem.” I sat there gawking at this creature, waiting for my brain to tap back on and give me permission to speak. What could only have been a couple of minutes felt like an eternity, a lifetime of the two of us staring each other down. “W-wh-Why is it a problem?” my voice squeaked out barely audible to even myself. His head gradually tilted to the side, seemingly studying my face. “Should be invisible to you.” He leaned in closer, like he was looking for something, his eyes occasionally brightening as he stared me down with laser focus. My body stiffened like a wooden board as I pressed my luck once more. “Who are you?” I clenched my jaw and frightfully narrowed my eyes, bracing myself for some sort of violent reaction. Thankfully, it never came actually he leaned away from me, hopefully this meant he learned the value of personal space. The lights in his eyes went dark and honestly that was more scary than him being a disco ball, he seemed to have just shut off, low battery maybe, I contemplated running but my curiosity had been triggered so I just waited. Moments later his eyes flickered back to life. “Nirṇetṛ.” his eyes brightened as he resumed his visual probing. “What just happened?” My eyebrow slightly raised as I stared back at him, my body loosening as our interaction lengthened. “Had to search throughout human history to find the last time we were referenced...2000 BC.” A slight smile crept across my face, Nirṇetṛ spoke so casually. He had to have realized the weight of the words he just said to me but all he did was stare. Definitely more interested in observing me regardless of the question asked.”Your time is running low.” Nirṇetṛ extended his arm, gently touching his fingers to my forehead. “What do you mean?” My face reverted back to panic as I shied away from his touch. “Hm. Your soul has been corrupted, darkened. Course altered. You were a soul meant to power paradise. Free will poisoned you.” He bluntly explained the situation obviously omitting the finer details. Giving me the summary of the summary, which can be more confusing than enlightening. My face scrunched up as I adjusted to the second big shock of the night. “So you’re an angel?” “Only a guide. Keep balance between paradise and purgatory. Correct altered courses.” Nirṇetṛ’s attention drifted while he spoke, there was definitely something more pressing at the moment. “Is it going to hurt?” I breathed deeply, prepping my mind for the obvious fate... If he replied, I didn’t hear it. My thoughts were elsewhere, and that was a million miles away. I clenched my eyes and leaned back towards his hand, delicately placing my forehead. “Your soul will be brightened and then filtered through the dark...embrace the journey, young one.” A golden light flashed, piercing my eyelids. Embrace the Journey. (Trying to get over a fear of sharing my work, so really tear into me I guess.