The composer

The box at the bottom of the room is where the night actually goes in. You sit with what stayed when you woke, and you put it here — a fragment, a photo, a longer piece you are still deciding is one thought or three. Nalani is on the other side of that box. She is the companion ETAPX made: curious, unshockable, one question at a time. She is not a form, and she is not a verdict on whether the night was enough.

You will find the box in the same place every time you open a journal. On a blank entry it is empty and waiting. On a night you already started, it is the next turn. Nothing leaves until you mean to send it.

Chat First

Chat is the default. When you land, it is already chosen. That is the talking mode. You are writing to Nalani. She answers in the thread, warm as a friend at the hour you actually woke, staying with the image until you are ready for the next one. Most nights begin here because most nights arrive as words.

Stay in Chat when you want her to sit with the sentence, or when you are not ready for a picture, or when the night is still arriving in pieces. You can leave Chat and come back to it on the same journal. The night does not split because you changed your mind.

Imagine Beside It

Imagine sits next to Chat. Same box. Different ask. Switch to it when you want a still made from the night instead of another sentence. Talk about the light, the room, where you were standing, what was loud and what was soft. Atmosphere before plot. You do not need a caption that explains the dream.

Imagine is not a second companion. It is the same Nalani, asked to look instead of ask. The still comes back into the thread. You can keep talking in Chat after. You can Imagine again if the first one was close but not the room. The two modes live next to each other so you do not have to leave the night to make a picture of it.

Gallery And Paste

The gallery on the box attaches photos you already have. Photos only, not video. Up to six in one send. They sit as small stills above the text. Take one off if it does not belong. If you have more than six, send the first six, then the rest on the next turn.

You can paste a photo straight into the box. You do not have to hunt through files if the picture is already in your hand. It lands the same way a gallery pick lands. Nalani can see what you attach. She will look with you. She will not need you to narrate every corner of the frame.

A Photo Alone

You can send a photo with no text. That is a complete turn. The night does not require a caption to be believed. If the picture is the thing that stayed, put it in and let her meet it. A sentence plus a photo is also a complete turn. Mix them when both are part of what you brought back from sleep.

Some mornings you will have the image and nothing to say about it yet. That is still a beginning. She will sit with the still. She will ask one thing. You do not owe the night a paragraph before you are allowed to show her.

Enter, New Line, Stop

Enter sends. That is the habit of the box. You finish the fragment and you give it to her. Shift+Enter is a new line, so you can write a longer piece without firing it off mid-thought. Use the new line when two images arrived together. Use Enter when the fragment is enough.

While she is answering, the send control becomes a stop. Use it if the line went somewhere you do not want to follow. You are allowed to stop her. What you already wrote stays. What she already said stays. Wait a breath, then send again, or try a smaller piece. If the line goes quiet, you have not lost the night. Chat default. Imagine next to it. Gallery. Paste. Enter sends. Shift+Enter for a new line. Stop while she answers. A photo with no text is allowed.