there is a story to be told about a girl with a troubled heart and a boy on a quest for his own spine. i should begin, but it is too windy and dark outside.

all i know (now) is that she hates him. she hates him and loves him. and as for him, he needs to be stricken. so that he knows that he has no spine, and then knows he must search for it, or he cannot inherit his kingdom. i'm not sure how this will be wrought. i will make every effort to be honest, to hold back no shred of feeling for the both of them. i want them laid bare.

i think her name is asha. his name is ben.

they met... no. their meeting isn't important. only that they have known each other.

he makes her happy, but happy and confused. she, in her confusion, opens him wide. he, only later, will probe his wounds and discover that his spine (assumed entirely intact) is not there. then he must seek it. and she must knit her heart.

there must be trials for them both. not with each other. she will meet an oak tree, and he will fight a dead witch. or maybe she will fight and he will meet. i'm not sure. shit, maybe the story is about the tree and the witch. all this remains to be seen.

stay tuned.