The MLYLT 3 steps to success.*

(1) Think of a goal.
(2) Tell everyone about that goal.
(3) Repeat.

*Success here is defined as deluding or distracting yourself sufficiently to avoid facing difficulties head-on.

Rapini

He sat with his back against the wall of the Hirm, floating, floating in the unwavering glow of the anieikas. The glow flowed through the burg like warm honey on the hive delineating the curves of the smooth, white stones. It ebbed with the wind as the crimson silks caressed the walls and the realmscape caressed his mind. It was the beginning of the short Haya.
The vision of short Haya called to him every year like the irreproachable goddess calls to you with the smile in her eyes. He could reach for the anieikas, they would call to him, but he would never be close enough to know their mysteries. His ideas of what they were, what they possessed, their secrets, their beauty kept him longing for the short Haya. He would have three months to drink the glow before the fire of the goddesses would be smothered and he would have to accept their smoke and the heat of the Haya. This was the year of his pleasure pairings and entrance into the Hirmgadam. Though it held its own anticipated mysteries to be discovered, it didn’t call to him. The other Sittats were filled with anticipation and excitement, he

Chapter 1:

He sat with his back against the wall of the Hirm, floating, floating in the unwavering glow of the anieikas. The blue glow flowed through the burg like warm honey on the hive delineating the curves of the smooth, white stones. It ebbed with the wind as the crimson silks caressed the walls and the realmscape caressed his mind. It was the beginning of the short Haya.
The southwest wall on the second flat of the Hirm was his favorite perch. He could see the ogival arches encapsulating the center of the burg, the orchards to the south, and the pools to the west mirroring the expanse and holding the anieikas like precious gym stones in their depths. The perch allowed for all of the beauty of the burg to be taken in without endeavor.
The vision of short Haya called to him every year like the irreproachable goddess calls to you with the smile in her eyes. He could reach for the anieikas, they would call to him, but he would never be close enough to know their mysteries. His ideas of what they were, what they possessed, their secrets, their beauty kept him longing for the short Haya. He would have three months to drink the glow before the fire of the goddesses would be smothered and he would have to accept their smoke and the heat of the Haya. This was the year of his love pairings and entrance into the Hirmgadam. Though it held its own anticipated mysteries to be discovered, it didn’t call to him, he couldn’t garner the same excitement of the other Sittats.
As he let the glow intoxicate him as it had done for all the short Hayas he could remember, he pondered who his pairing would be. Would it be a pairing or pairings he wondered. The pairings were determined at birth, but the law code allowed for adjustments to be made if the Mudars had strong convictions from their observations or if the Sittats themselves requested an additional pairing. Only three Sittats were allowed in a single pairing and the original paring could never be broken as it was irrefutably determined through the genetic map to be the strongest link. He already had a mistress, though he could indulge in the pleasure, he knew he could not share his heart.
“KANSHIN, KANSHIN…. wake up and walk me back to the Taealam, I know you’re up there.”
Carlina’s squeal pulled him from his reverie. He reluctantly pulled himself up and climbed over the wall and down the pilaster using the foot holes he spent an entire short Haya carving when he finally had the strength to climb. While his perch isn’t secret, only he could reach the span of the foot holes. As early as his eighth short Haya he towered over the others like the sequies towered over the soft stones.
“Always hiding with your head in the mush. Why aren’t you with the others at the Taealam making your bets?”
“I could ask the same of you.”
“You would get exactly zero percent of the pairings right anyway, you probably have no idea about your own pairing.” “Ooow, who do you want. Tell me. Oh please tell me Kan.”
“Well, definitely not you. Who is the quietest?”
He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her head to his armpit and gave her hair a tug. They had all grown together in the Taealam, physical contact was forbidden by the law code until you became a Sittat, but it wasn’t foreign to Kanshin and Carlina. They both escaped the Taealam as soon as they knew there was no real punishment in doing so. He to explore, dream, admire, and to plan his escape as a Shujae, and she to do her own exploring and dreaming. They first ran into each other in their tenth short Haya, they never spoke of their adventures, but they had a bond in the understanding that neither of them wanted to be questioned. They held each other’s secret as if holding onto their own dreams. Though there was no foreseeable punishment, there was still internal reprimand of disappointing the Mudars. That was the only fear, disappointing the Dreamers. First there was the inability to know you could break the law code not knowing what the consequences might be and that was enough to keep you chained to the code, then there was the realization that the consequence was a betrayal to the Dreamers, a betrayal to yourself.