The Bornless Realm

Dragons exist perpendicular to our universe, in what physicists call ‘imaginary time.’ This is a real place but, unlike our cosmos, imaginary time has no beginning and no end.

The reptile brain is a shadow in our world of this adjacent reality. As if without beginning or end, it breathes us, regulates heart rate – and informs our lives with desire and power.

All forms of compulsion, all addictions, remember this bornless realm of the dragon. And, for an author dreaming of dragons, the most vivid personification of addiction must be the vampire.

Recovery from addiction is a process of mourning a lost self. The pre-addicted self is gone forever. And the new self, who trusts the day’s higher power to restrain compulsion, is ever emerging. Each new day is a circular journey of reflection, illumination and deeper reflection.

Unluckily for vampires, they have no reflections.

And so each new night is a broken journey of illumination into ever deeper darkness.

Can vampires be cured? No. But maybe they can be healed.

In traditional myth the vampire, like the alcoholic, is incurable and must manage addiction daily.

What might a 12-step program look like for the undead?