Upside Ann

  Before drifting away entirely, he found himself reflecting--not for the first time--on the peculiarity of adults.  They took laxatives, liquor, or sleeping pills to drive away their terrors so that sleep would come, and their terrors were so tame and domestic: the job, the money, what the teacher will think if I can't get Jennie nicer clothes, does my wife still love me, who are my friends.  They are pallid compared to the fears every child lies cheek and jowl with in his dark bed, with no one to confess to in hope of perfect understanding but another child.  There is no group therapy of psychiatry or community social services for the child who must cope with the thing under the bed or in the cellar every night, the thing which leers and capers and threatens just beyond the point where vision will reach.  The same lonely battle must be fought night after night and the only cure is the eventual ossification of the imaginary faculties, and this is called adultho...

 One of the greatest lies that humanity tells is that time produces wisdom. Oh, Ala will concede that time creates more opportunities for a person to become wise, but it's hardly a guarantee.  And for those who don't fear death as much as the average human being, wisdom is even harder to come by.  The short mortal lifespan makes the acquisition of wisdom feel urgent, like a survival skill; a long lifespan, by comparison, makes someone feel they have all the time in the world for a slow,  contemplative life...later.  This is the sequel to a book I read last year, "When Among Crows".  The characters in the story are either demon/monster type "people" or knights from a family who're pledged to kill them.  The challenge is that while the story takes place in Chicago, the monster world and label s are from a Slavic tradition.  It was really useful to keep a pad of paper and write down things like zmora = eats fear and w ieszczy = zombie. And she's alw...