The giants sweep underfoot—one, two, three, four,fivesix—ohIcan’tcountfastenough!

But here they come! Here they come! One by one! Desperately. Kicking up dirt onto my shoes that are now glowing blue. Blue? But my shoes always glow blue. They do? That they do, my boy—that they do…

Here I am. I am here. You cannot stop me because I am here. I have been here before. I have been here so many times, so many … so many … what what what … breaks before my fragile eyes of stonecoloredgracelikeabc,d.e..f…f…fu…

They sweep undermyfoot, not with grace, but with force, pummeling and driving and eating as they go—like this: THERE THEY GO! And I am thrown Upward (hahahahaha) into Darkness and never descend. I have ascended. I am transfigured—not yet not yet not yet not yet. I am—nonononono. Yesyesyesyesyes! Yes? Yes! Yesyes! Yesyesyesyesyes! Hahahahaha!

But where have they gone? To where do they go?

Enter the cave my dear friend, rest by the fire, there is nothing of which to be afraid. This is only Darkness crawling along the walls. It is only the devil feasting before your eyes.

The devil?

Yes, the devil.

Oh my! The flesh that dangles from the ceiling?

Yours.

When did he take it from me?

You never possessed it.

Haha. Possessed. Get it? Possessed?

Funny.

Can I have it back?

What? This? The flesh?

Can I? Can you give it back to me?

Hahaha.

Give it back. Give it back! GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK!! GIVE IT BACK!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!!!! GIVE IT BACK!!!!!!!!!!

No.

And then the screaming falls into my lap and I belt it out like no one has ever heard before. They muffle my voice with a pillow and I will not stop, because I have seen it. The ceiling is collapsing. The room is shaking. The pillars are crumbling, and I am underneath the mass of existence that they support. White ribbon is strung across the sky. Others dance with spiders and scorpions. I dance with Darkness. It is a slow dance, where I put my head into the crook of its neck and it pats my back gently, slowly moving up and down—a little too far down as he lightly pats my as our feet move together making circles across the floor that is made of bodies as gray as the sky that glares down at our hovering selves so full of hatred and disdain…

I dance with Darkness.

Good for you.

No. You don’t get it. No. You don’t.

Yes.

Agony. &. Defeat. Like. Drops. Of—

I dance with Darkness. I dance. Or is it more like this—