Puppetmaster
an excerpt

.....he helped her to her feet and led her to the window. He pulled back the shade. Outside, the last hints of the sunset could still be seen at the edge of the darkened sky, a dull crimson glow behind a lattice of bare trees.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” he said.

She nodded.

“That’s how I know it’ll be all right,” he explained. “Because the sun keeps rising and setting every day. Because you can still see something beautiful even when it seems like the whole world’s shot to hell. Because I think there’s a purpose to it all.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” she protested.

“Maybe not,” he said, “but it means something to me. Tells me that we’ll get through this. And one day everything’s gonna be all right.”