They're always by my side - sometimes I forget they're not here to protect me, and I feel safe. Darkness on my right, light on the left - nonetheless, identical. How do I know one from the other? Condescending amusement versus distant pity - all in their eyes. It's startling how familiar they seem now and how different from what I expected. I always believed I'd at least have that innate survival instinct to know evil when I saw it, or sense good when in its company. I was an idiot. They are both dread and awe. One is not hideous, just as the other is not reassuring - both so achingly beautiful that I forget to breathe. How to keep away from one and hold on to the other?
