His hands are poised above ivory-white keys. The room seems to hold its breath as the pianist waits, ready, waiting.

It's okay to smile,
It's okay to laugh
even though the ones we love
from this life and world do pass

It's okay to dance
feeling music and joy,
even though we know that death
is something we can't avoid

It's okay to love
and give your heart away,
even though you know it might
be broken to pieces someday

It's okay to grin,
to be happy isn't wrong,
even though the ones we love

I went and took my sorrows,
My sorrows,
small and bleeding,
hard and lonesome,
dark and weeping.
I went and took my sorrows
and sealed them in a jar.

I threw them to the ocean
The ocean,
Wild and angry,
Deep and longing,
Old and joyful
I tossed them to the ocean
Which tossed them back to me.

Chapter the Twenty-first

Loth awoke to the sound of a shot being fired. She was propelled out of her bunk by the force and tumbled onto the ground.
She sprang up, grabbing a lantern from its hook on the ceiling. "We’re being fired at!" she called to the other startled elves. "Everyone, on deck, quickly!"
As they followed her orders, some asked, "Can we return fire?"

Part Four: The Meaning of Danger and the Beginning of Sorrow

Yllna rushed into the room, bearing a lamp and a bag. "Brey! Pack your things! Take only what is necessary! You have to leave right away!"
Brey sat up sleepily. She glanced up at the window above her bed. "It’s still dark," she mumbled.
Yllna whipped the covers off her charge’s bed. "Did you not hear me? You have to leave!"

Rain
drops of silver,
crystalline tears,
wash away
sorrows and fears
Rain, rain,
don't go away,
keep me company,
cleanse my weary soul,
with drops of silver,
crystalline tears,
wash away sorrows and fears,
Rain, rain,
you blow away,
the sun comes out
on a whole new day

Chapter the Sixth

Mid-winter in Llorleya

Aria danced down the Main Hall, waving a thin white sheet of paper marked with delicate, curling, spidery handwriting. The form of the letters, elegant and graceful, mirrored the personality of the correspondent. The courier, who happens to be Josh, followed uncertainly behind the excited girl, checking his curiosity of what the letter held.

Chapter the Third

Let me now paint for you a picture of the king and queen, as they appear before us now.

“Silent Tears Only” read the sign beyond the door and all the souls that traveled through would sign the dotted line (which was, indeed, for them, the unborn souls) before climbing down to earth on Jacob’s Ladder with the Angels.

And the Voice within said, “Smile and say that
everything’s O.K. Don’t cry. Don’t let it show that you’re afraid.”

The wind is dancing about you
and rain pours through the day
washing it away
to another rainy day

The hope that comes with sunshine
seems lost amidst the clouds
while dampness soaks right through you
security drowning in flood

The rain is falling, pouring
blowing through the field
and everything that's withered
begins to rise and lift it's face
for tomorrow's brighter skies