24 February 2024

Each moment is nothing more than a mirage

Ephemeral

Naught but a breath of time

And yet…

Moments are the threads from which eternity is woven

Dreams are like distant stars in the night sky

Elusive

Always, it seems, just out of reach

And yet…

Will we ever move forward if we do not chase them?

2 August 2023

Ever since I first read it in seventh grade for class, the short story The Lady or the Tiger has always fascinated me. I’d periodically find myself chewing on it, wondering not so much what would the princess choose, but what’s the best outcome overall? I consistently come back to the solution I present below. I should note this explicitly goes against what it says in the original story; it makes it very clear the princess’s beau fully expects her to help him survive the trial. Which always rubbed me wrong.

I had some vague ideas about a potential story arc after the dude kills the tiger, but it’s not a particularly high priority at the moment; we’ll see if and when I get to it in the future.

Princess Nikka could only stare in shock, her blood roaring in her ears. Her father, the king, looked thoroughly pleased with himself, as he sat smugly upon his throne. Did he not realize what he’d just done? Of how utterly he’d just ruined all hope she had for her future?

Of course he didn’t. It didn’t matter how she felt about Leug, or what promises they’d made. It only mattered that the king thought she’d defied him. And so Leug would be put to the Trial. And no matter which doom he chose… She’d lose him. Forever.

Unbidden, and unwelcome for the weakness they implied, tears welled in the corner of Nikka’s eyes. One moment, visions of blood swept over her, as she imagined Leug eviscerated by the tiger. The next, images of Leug’s arms around another woman, while she was forced to watch from afar as she grew old and lonely. Or worse, chained to the side of whatever clan chieftain or foreign dignitary had gained Father’s favor.

A hand rested on Nikka’s shoulder, pulling her out of her waking nightmare. Leug, bound in chains and yet somehow still more noble in bearing than all her father’s court combined, flashed her a smile and whispered, “Send me to the tiger, will you? When the day comes. I know you’ll find out which is which; so when you do, send me to the tiger.”

Nikka’s blood turned to ice. “Do you not wish to live? For your own happiness?” She ignored Father’s souring expression.

Leug chuckled. “Of course I do. But what life, what happiness is there without you? Nor could I be so cruel, to either you or my wife-to-be.”

“So you have given up hope?”

With a shake of his head, Leug explained, “There’s still a way. One single path I can see.” He flashed her a smile, one full of false bravado to mask his fear. “I just have to kill the tiger.”