Jifma comes to say goodbye. "I leave you now, as I must go as I do each year and slumber until it is my time once again to come and lead you into a new year. I showed you the new, got you to leave the past and move into the new. Together, we became unafraid of the new and it became our friend." She unclasps her hand from mine and stepped back. The clock approaches midnight. She speaks one last time. "I will leave you to my companion, he will show you how to live in the here and now, not to look at the past, but to look at the now and be present in it. He is called Mijja. You remember him from past years, no?". I shake my head in affirmation. "Yes I do, dear Jifma". It is almost time, two minutes or so, Jifma, she starts to glow, her face radiant and bright, like the center of a star. She crosses her hands over her chest and raises her head back, eyes closed. Soon the glow becomes so bright that her entire person is covered in it and she becomes a mass of light. 30 seconds, the light becomes mottled and blurry. Midnight. In a blinding flash, she vanishes. For a moment, there is darkness and silence. Then, suddenly out of the darkness appears a young man, looking almost like Peter Pan - dressed in green, somewhat lighter in hue than Lincoln green. He puts his hand on my shoulder and speaks. "Hello friend, I have returned. I am Mijja. I am the core, the center. With me you will not look to the past, nor to the future, but only at the now. I will always remind you: "2 - 0 - 2 - 2", nothing before, nothing after. The after will come in its time, when I hand you off to the final one, but for now, never speak of later, or then, but only of now. We will travel the four segments of my timespace and be present in each moment. Are you ready to begin the journey for this year?" I respond. "I welcome the journey, old friend Mijja, for you and I have traversed many middle spaces - 58 to be exact. I look forward to this one and many more". He smiles. "OK, then. Lets get started. The sun will rise soon and the leaves are almost out. I think I hear the birds awakening from their sleep". We move forward into the center, into the core. I am ready. Jifma has shown me the new and now its the present. Mijja and I will go forth from here. The cycle continues, and will into eternity.