I awoke from a dream today and saw myself for the first time in a good long while. I gave a cordial nod and complimented myself on the genuine expression, especially as I hadn’t managed one as of late.

“As good as it is to see you,” I told him, “I’m afraid you simply can’t stay. You may have heard the news, but there’s a great many details you don’t know and that I don’t have the heart to tell you.”

He looked a bit confused as I sat down with a bottle and a glass and said my farewells. No matter what they say, you can keep a good man down. It’s letting him back up again that’s the trick.