One image changes everything...

I saw this photograph on Facebook, in a private group, and it has taken hold of me in ways I'm still trying to sort through. Yes, I love the composition and muted colors washed in blue, the harsh lines of the rock and soft water whispering around it...and the young man is beautiful...but it's something so much more than just artistic.

This photo...a man at the height of his youth sitting on the edge of the abyss, naked, cold, gazing out at nothing, his posture slightly stooped, his shoulders hunched a bit forward, his almost hidden hands being palm up in, adding to a pose of near surrender even as his gaze across the ocean is simple and direct. It could be the start of a thousand different journeys. Or none. He could be ten feet up from the water, or a hundred. There's no telling. He is caught in a form of limbo.

This photo...it connected me with Brendan without a thought. Nearing the end of the story. As he faces the reality of his world and has no idea how to accept it or process it or understand it. All he can do is become a part of it. Caught in his own form of limbo.

This photo...it gave me the ending of the book...the true ending...