The ledge

It wasn't too far away. He could could see over, could see everything on the other side. Hope, despair, success and failure, it was all there.

Which road he took depended entirely on how hard he was willing to work. It was possible, however unlikely, that he was ready for it.

His entire life had been spent on autopilot. seldom kicking into high gear. There had been flashes of brilliance, moments of clarity that anyone would recognize as near genius.

He never knew how this happened, which was part of the magic. Being in the zone, well, that was easy to imagine. He'd done it playing sports, more than once. Tennis, in the match against the #1 team, he'd averaged three aces a game. His serves hit the SIDE fence. Kick serves can be brutal. Basketball, too. Downing three entire water bottles at half time? No cramping after? The league's leading scorer being held to seven points? That was him.

This was different. While sports was great, he was never good enough to really take them seriously. Writing was something that could carry him, take him places he'd always wanted to go but never had the courage to. When he let himself go...there was never a need to worry about courage. It came naturally.

And it was beautiful.