The Lonesome Road

Last morning I “woke” up around 8:30 AM. Well, actually, I tried to. My eyes felt like they were glued shut - but my body refused to sleep any more. By the time I actually got up and brushed my teeth, things seemed to be back to normal - i.e eyes open (check), body working (check).

I sat in front of the laptop to check my mail and see who was online. Somehow, I just could not concentrate on the screen. I wanted to be anywhere but in front of the comp. I tried turning on the TV as well, but it did no good. I spoke with a couple of people (online) and decided it was time to get off the comp. Time : 10 AM.

So, I took my book (Runelords - David Farland) and resumed my reading. I think I read all of 3 pages before I fell asleep again. Not that the book is boring. It’s a nice book with a very diferent explanation of magic.

Let me digress a little. The book is a fantasy novel which describes a battle between the four elements of nature i.e Earth, Fire, Wind and Water. What I liked is the rune system. A person may take endowments (gifts) from other people. For instance a person may endow another his strength. The person who receives gets the strength of two people. However, the person who gave up his strength becomes as weak as a baby. The same for any other attribute that is given up. The Kings and Dukes of the land take a large number of endowments to protect their kingdoms and are called Runelords. The people they take endowments from are called Dedicates and are cared for. Also, if a dedicate dies, the receiver loses the part of the endowment that the dedicate provided. For instance, if a dedicate provided wit, a receiver may lose the memories that he stored in the dedicate’s brain.

Of course, the rest of the story is standard fantasy. One person wants to take over the world and there is a chosen one (The Earth King) who has to oppose him.

Anyway, the next thing I know is the phone is ringing and it’s 2 PM. Spoke to my cousin and decided to check the mail. Good mail - the library found the book I wanted. Straken - Book 3 of the High Druid of Shannara by Terry Brooks.

This could not be ignored. So I heaved myself out of bed, took a bath and headed off for the library. The weather was not in a co-operative mood and I was blown all over the place by the wind.

Came home and promptly went to sleep - again. This time I came out of my stupor at around 8:30 PM. Just in time to help the guys make dinner. Dinner finished, I came back to my room, turned on the TV - and went to sleep again. Time : 10:30 PM.

Woke up at 1 AM. Shifted around till I was comfortable. And - you guessed it - slept. Just woke up. Hopefully, this day will not go the same way.

Until next time - catch your zzzzzzzz’s!