The fog seemed to close in around me, making me feel as if I were not actually in this world.

Sounds echoed everywhere and the lights and shadows seemed to trade positions as I walked.

There was a chill but I seemed to be invigorated by it. My steps fell faster and laughter bubbled up inside me.

A couple on the street ahead turn back and look at me. I fought the urge to smile and just nodded a greeting. Their steps became hurried anyway.

It was a night to be reborn, into a monster of my choosing.

So many choices.

The number can never truly be calculated. Even if it could be, it would be incomprehensible.

Only the weight of the obligation can be felt.

The balance will never be attained. We will always owe more than we could hope to repay.

But that is not what they ask of us. Only to be remembered. That their acts be not in vain. That lessons are learned.

So we endeavor in live in their shadows. To prove ourselves worthy of their example.

And maybe, just maybe, to be honored as they are. To achieve our own bit of immortality.

Worth remembering.

(This flag was flown at half mast to honor Officer Alex Yazzie of the Diné (Navajo Nation) killed in the line March 19, 2015.)