I'm sure we've all been there; lying in our bed, all of the lights off, eyes closed, trying to force yourself into keeping still, in hopes you'll be able to go to sleep.

It's more bland and boring than limbo itself.

Yet, during the most tedious time of nightfall, our minds will wonder a bit sometimes before we can finally close our eyes, and slip away into the inner mechanisms of our subconcious.

I'll think about my childhood a lot...

...those late nights with my father.

I was a hyper little boy, never wanting to settle down and relax. My father was a god with words; he spoke in poetry, it seemed. He'd sit there, and he'd count from 20 backwards, describing the numbers vividly yet with a touch of surrealism, as if he was trying to manipulate my thought processes into simulating an acid trip.

...I'll think about school.

...I am a Phoenix; that was my mantra for the new school year, at least.

...I'll think about how the fire inside of me burned out last year ("Bronyism: My Ultimate Placebo")

...I burned into my ashes; a gray, pile of dust, making up whom I used to be.

...but, I am a Phoenix. All Phoenix will rise from their own ashes.

...at least, that's what I tell myself, anyway.

Hmph. Reality is so cruel, though.

My rise from the ashes has been delayed for quite sometime, now.

...and, as for my father, the sky is his playground, but the cold earth is now his bed.

That's the beauty of my dreams.

I have realistic ones; while still being somewhat dreamlike, I still see the things and people I love and cherish; the ones whose memories will remain locked in my heart forever.

...I miss my dream-realm when I'm not there; it's where all of the insanity of a dream is overshadowed by the happiness of what I see in my sleep.

...I miss my dreams when I'm awake, because those dreams will never degrade into the cold, cruel reality we all have to live in everyday.

...Goodnight, everyone.