Hello Traveler, I see you remembered what today was. For everyone else, it is the final day of the leap year- New Year's Eve, if you will. For me, it is my birthday. I suppose if you were to ask the average person in the dream world what today was, they would not tell you the latter. If you were to ask anyone who is here today, they would tell you the latter. In any case, I think it is fitting to be here to celebrate both occasions. Whether it is yet another revolution around the Sun that is complete, or the observation of my birth.

In the past year, I have heard and seen much about the dream world. This year was not a straight line, in fact, I would say it was zig-zagged. What I had feared came to pass, though I managed to also help out and prevent the dream world from seeing a catastrophe. Yet, it was the quick thinking of many great people who managed to hold together the dream world in a way that made neighbor look after neighbor, and stranger take care of stranger. It is unprecedented events that bring us together in a world that can be cruel and unfair. I still see just and fairness in this world, even if the odds seem great.

Though I cannot tell you what next year will bring, I believe we must all remain close and stick together. This year showed up that we cannot be oblivious to the creeping dangers that exist in the world. Complacency feeds on our ignorance and doubt. Sometimes, bad things can happen, and we may not know why they happen, but we must learn from it and use that knowledge to move forward. I am glad to see the dream world recovering, but there is much work ahead of us, and this may not be the end of all bad things to come... 

I do not want to be pessimistic, so I would like to use my birthday wish on all of my friends and those close in my heart. I am not sure what will happen to me next year, but I would rather have those I care much about be safe and have their year filled with peace. That itself would make me quite happy. Perhaps things will be different a year from now, and whoever I am with by then, I hope it is all of you- including you, Traveler. With that, I wish you and everyone else a very bright and happy new year. To whatever 2025 brings: we will be ready, together. Now...would anyone like a slice or two of cake? - Lucid