Rice and a friend of ours has taken Winter somewhere ... the ER or someplace similar, I imagine. For the third time since August, Winter is suicidal to the point of having a plan and working on carrying it out.

Even though he's been taking steps to get help, he's not getting what he needs. I don't even think his counselor who is still in "counselor school" knows he's paranoid schizophrenic yet and hasn't been on meds or having any kind of treatment for a very long time.

Let's put it this way -- when Winter first saw The Truman Show, he was felt like he was watching his life.

So, they're off to somewhere, hopefully to get Winter the help he so desperately needs.

I wish Rice had left our friend; it's hard being here alone on nights like this. At the same time, our friend could be very helpful to Winter and Rice, so I'll try not to be hormonal and selfish.

And this is where Neil Gaiman fits in.

Neil just pretty much rocks. Someone should make a little Neil Gaiman quote book covering everything from death, music, family life, gardening, and writing to reading, traveling, eating, and growing up.

In terms of when things get hard, one could look here:

"As a solution to various problems you may encounter upon the way, let me suggest this:

"Make Good Art.

"It's very simple. But it seems to work. Life fallen apart? Make good art. True love ran off with the milkman? Make good art. Bank foreclosing? Make good art."

And that would be why I'm going to keep writing my novel until I'm utterly exhausted and then try to go to bed because who knows when Rice and our friend will return. Hopefully, Winter won't be with them. His best friends and we all agree he needs serious help and he can't get it here. Some hospital time is probably in the cards.