Chapter 12: Initiation

 

Next place,

Uphill

Running and running

Gray-green skies

Tan dead grass

Scraggly trees.

 

Never night

Never morning’s light

Always hazy early evening.

 

A well, a tree.

Walk on.

A well, a tree.

Walk on.

A well, a tree.

 

I laugh and laugh.

Behind me, something snaps.

My prince stumbles

Stumbles

Half-rotting chest,

Maggot-filled eyes.

 

A mirage or truth?

The thing lunges.

Run, run, run.

No progress.

No sense of fright.

This thing may consume me.

 

Like a dream, no sound

No movement

Except the progress of the beast.

 

I swing

A fallen branch.

The beast vanishes.

 

By the well,

An old woman laughs.