Victor's Soliloquy

"You know, sometimes I find myself staring blankly forward, legitimately contemplating life. I find my contemplations to be rather negative. Frankly, the more I ponder them, the more negative they get. It's not that I'm contemplating life in general, or the meaning of life, just life. Mine, I suppose. It's not that my life is terrible, really, that I should end up thinking of it so dreadfully. I guess it's just suddenly starting to dawn on me just how long a lifetime is. People say it goes by quickly--which it does, I won't bother to deny. However, that being said, I think it goes by much more quickly when one is, for lack of a less cliche saying, having fun. A lifetime is a long time to be alone.

"I look at Patrick. Patrick doesn't care a snippet about anyone besides himself. I wonder how much if will hurt when he wakes up and realizes all that he's missed. I worry for the day when that happens. I worry that by the time he sees it, it will be too late.

"I look at someone like Woodrow, who wants nothing more than to have a family of his own, and I feel pained to think he may never get it. The towns are small, they're highly judgmental, and we're rather far away. I fear I may have doomed him to a life with only us. Us at the castle, that is. I know I won't be going anywhere, and I'm afraid that he won't be willing to just pick up and leave when the truth is finally revealed that sticking around with me could mean the end of his dreams."

A long silence followed.

"But dreaming never dies." Claudia's voice entered, like a cool breeze on a hot summer's day, a sweet release pulling him from his trance-like state. He looked up at her, into her bright green eyes, feeling a wash of water flow through him, putting out the fires of self loathing that had so suddenly brewed. He had completely forgotten she was there.

Never again.