I cherished, you perished. The world's been nightmarished

It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it that you may come across four of five times in life. It faced-or seemed to face-the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey

I remember the feeling,
the electricity running through my body,
the adrenaline,
the fireworks,
the peace,
the happiness,
the way it felt to be infinite,
and the day it all went away.

But there were all kinds of hidden dangers in childhood,
things that reared up and stole your innocence
before you were old enough to fight back.

"It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things." -Lemony Snicket <3