Ray was in a funk. Today was the first day of winter and it had been a long year. Ray’s dog ran away eleven months ago and everything after that was a slow decent to winter.

This year was a collection of the strangest occurrences and they began piling on top of Ray. The power died in his house and the electric company could never figure out how to fix it. Additionally and remarkably, Ray’s tastebuds stopped working. Apples and cabbage tasted like a similar shade of nothing. The world became dim and flavorless and Ray felt powerless against this new world’s design.

Ray was bundled up in the dark on winter’s first eve, trying his hardest to keep warm in his powerless home. It was then that he noticed something.

The moonlight was so intense it lit up the room with its brilliant light as it shone through the window. Ray held up his hand to examine the light on his skin. He focused on his fingers so deeply he began to think of them as separate from himself. A strange, comforting energy rolled over him and emitted from his fingertips. It was Ray.