The young man lying in the overly white post-op hospital room looks like a ghost of the him from yesterday. The face normally oozing charisma and confidence now shows an empty shock with a shadow of the despair, anguish and rage yet to come. Flashes of memories pulsing in time to his father's loud accusations leave him with no place to hide in his mind. A frat party, the drinking games, crowing like a rooster, pain and broken roof tiles followed by multiple red and blue lights then sliding towards a drug numb oblivion piece together to form an ugly whole before the nurses force his father to leave.

After a new dose of painkillers and a physician visit his immediate future is all too clear. There will be no football this season and after the initial surgery is done healing the following minor surgery and rehab will keep him down for almost a year with a nearly 50/50 chance of a full recovery. It's JUST a couple of torn ligaments, one torn leg tendon, three broken fingers, a fractured ankle and a wrist that needs two pins to help it heal properly.

It's a death sentence. It shouldn't be but it is. Add in substandard grades, a minor scandal about him not being old enough to drink for another 9 months and the recruiters pulling that publicity positive, ghetto golden child onto the roster six months ago and it's a done deal...”What do I do now?”

Fate is on the brink of discarding you. We offer another path to walk. It isn't just about what you have lost it is also about what you have to gain. The path is not without peril yet filled with fortune in equal measure. Steel your heart and decide...

YES or NO?

******

Among the empty platitudes and endless casseroles sits a teenage girl contemplating those attending her mother's wake. Her step brother's slouched and relaxed form staring intently at his hand-held game, her stepfather's slightly exaggerated grief as he intermittently glances at his watch and her Aunt's saccharine concern as her overly familiar hand roams and squeezes the broad shoulders and neck of her stepfather are all individually exquisite forms of corrosive acid slowly dripping on her weary and broken heart.

It was only moments ago, with sunken and bloodshot eyes, she quietly slipped to her mother's side for a brief and feathery kiss to the cold, waxy forehead. A silent benediction from a living ghost to the eternally claimed. As she listlessly wanders off, the last remaining portion of her innocent heart forms one last question before joining the rest in the coffin with her mother. “Does anyone want me now?”

Hope is on the brink of discarding you. We offer another path to walk. It isn't just about what you have lost it is also about what you have to gain. The path is not without peril yet filled with fortune in equal measure. Steel your heart and decide...

YES or NO?

*****

Surrounded by the trappings of an empty and vapid life, a dumpy man in his late 30's sits in front of his computer as he mostly has for the past few years, finding ways to keep boredom and suicidal thoughts at bay. Poor eating habits, lack of meaningful exercise and a heavy smoking habit slowly shredding away the heartiness of an otherwise healthy body.

Dull, lifeless eyes stare at the general direction of the monitor, focused more inwardly than outwards. A litany of squandered opportunities and missed experiences repeat to a soundtrack of self pity and loathing. The man's thoughts twisting into the form of a depraved eulogy of condemnation. A silent, desperate cry rips itself from a soul on the verge of collapse...”Give me a way out, now!”

Life is on the brink of discarding you. We offer another path to walk. It isn't just about what you have lost it is also about what you have to gain. The path is not without peril yet filled with fortune in equal measure. Steel your heart and decide...

YES or NO?

The World is on the brink of discarding you...

Destiny is on the brink...

Time is...

God...