Once death glared at me stooped in a corner- cobwebs encircled his brow; the crown of a vampire. I stared back without blinking; brazened him mirthfully. He smiled then winked before fading into the walls. That day I set sail for the black sea; the waters churned threatening to subvert me. An island in the middle of a storm was my destination, and there I met the tree of time who was a master of rhyme twisted and coiled around illusion. It showed me perpetual roads interconnected, with numerous forks; a path of emotions and realities changing constantly, cycling through innumerous outcomes- it said "Everything that can happen has already- the choice we have is to create from these a path of our own, a fate that sets us free." I told it of death- the end of the road and the tree laughed. "He fades as if only dream- a necessary illusion. A mans reality stagnates and becomes irksome; he must be tricked into thinking he has ended then made anew- so he can feel the magic and beauty of life once again. There is no end to these roads; they are as twisted and coiled as I am." I remember these words from the day my boat sailed the ebony sea; the day I stared death down- life's magic hasn't stagnated since and death doesn't haunt my corner anymore.