Opium Dreams

Santa Laura was a city of immaculate beauty at night. Nile especially appreciated the cobblestone buildings, illuminated by those weird crimson-red lamps with no apparent fuel nor oil. "I can see myself coming here from time to time," he thought to himself "just to enjoy this view". Since the second beast joined the fight, the balance has been shifted violently against Nile. Even after he was able to recover from the collision with the wall, he had completely unable to land any hits and has been excruciatingly struggling to avoid taking in more damage. The two beasts figured out his moves and countered with terrifying calm and efficiency. At this point, it was no longer a question of "if" but "when" will they finish him off. They did not seem to mind taking time.  A couple of jumps and kicks later, Nile found himself flying into the stem of a tree, back-first. As soon as his body made contact he heard a crackling sound and new that something in h...

Today I'd like to talk about a subject of particular interest to me, charity and, more generally, gratitude.  Like me, you've all probably been raised to consider charity as both an act of kindness and pity. That people who did charitable work were, by definition, kind, but most importantly, powerful. We've all been raised to see people receiving charity as weak and pitiful. Weak because they need others, and pitiful because their state inspires pity that, in turn, incites others to give them.  This paradigm has several issues, most of which you can already detect from the previous paragraph. I am not writing this piece to analyze institutions nor to propose solutions. I will not discuss charity from political & financial spectrums and how charitable work is integrated into the tax system. I am simply writing this to share a couple of stories that made me think about the notions of "need" and "gratitude" and how we perceive them, and how that percept...

The night was young and starless. A shy crescent hid behind the clouds.  In the village center, things went out of hand quickly. In no time, the entire square was empty, but for two humongous beasts and a youngster holding a scythe.  Nile soon regained his composure after having slashed the big guy. his breathing gradually slowed and his sweat evaporated. He was now calm as a monk, waiting for the two beasts to make their next move. This choice was deliberate as he wanted them both to be fully committed for the remainder of this encounter, his pride needed to be restored. In hindsight, this was a regrettable decision.  The first Cross, who by this point seemed to be the leader, was immobile. The slash from Silva made him drop his sword. He did not move; The second Cross, impassive as always, looked at Nile, still with a surprising lack of animosity, then looked at his comrade. He went next to him, picked up his sword and handed it to him. He then stepped back a little and...

The sun came down, and two Cross's appeared instead of one.  This was a shock to Nile. He could not fathom how one being can exist twice, worse yet, three times. He remembered the amount of difficulty he had to endure to put one Cross down, even with immense help from the guy with the snakes and the sniper. The memory made his spine shiver a bit and he held tighter to silva for comfort. The two beasts, on the other hand, did not seem to pay particular attention to him. In fact, they did not seem to recognize him at all. They continued to advance calmly down the square. The one in the front seemed to sense the tension and looked at Nile and saw him holding Silva. He looked a bit bewildered but still uninterested.     Nile, still under a bit of shock, was convinced that he had no chance of coming out of this unscathed. That being said, he had a duty to perform. He made an implicit promise to protect the old man and he had no right to falter. He muttered a prayer and wa...

The road to the port city was long and arduous. Winter was waning off and a hot summer was brewing in the background, but for the time being, the weather was lovely. "Perfect weather to start the journey" reflected Nile, as they crossed a small bridge. He patted his horse dearly on its mane, the horse neighed. "So you guys are a group," asked Nile. " In the loosest sense of the word, Yes" replies Zolf. "we are a group of individuals who find it easier, from a logistical point of view, to work together".  "That's a group" said Nile, impassively.  "I suppose you're right" replied Zolf, with a smile.  Zolf was riding on his trusted old horse, Nigel. He was leading them to the Rendez-Vous point, at the portal city of Santa Laura.  The gates of the city were within eyeshot. Santa Laura was the main port of the island and the major outlet to the main continent. Illegal outlets existed, mainly due to the heavy taxation impose...