The sky grew darker, painted blue on blue, one stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night.

Like flowers scattered in a storm, a man's life is a long farewell.

It was a short one-paragraph item in the morning edition.

Please remember: things are not what they seem.

As I see it, you are living with something that you keep hidden deep inside. Something heavy. I felt it from the first time I met you. You have a strong gaze, as if you have made up your mind about something. To tell you the truth, I myself carry such things around inside. Heavy things. That is how I can see it in you.

No matter what they wish for, no matter how far they go, people can never be anything but themselves. That's all.

I would stare at the grains of light suspended in that silent space, struggling to see into my own heart. What did I want? And what did others want from me? But I could never find the answers. Sometimes I would reach out and try to grasp the grains of light, but my fingers touched nothing.