The thick white mist clung tightly to the surface of the small mountain lake, hanging over the cold water like a pillow, suffocating the land, snuffing out all noise in the area.

Then, from somewhere beyond the mist, a lone Harlequin Duck female came fluttering by. The small brown bird looked around, seeming lost and exhausted, its wings beating lazily to stay afloat.

Then, it spotted the lake. A ...

"Please, don't do this!" the weathered headstone read.

Simon sighed and turned away. The rows upon rows of gravestones stretched on into the night, disappearing in the fog somewhere far away.

How long had he been wandering through this accursed place? Time seemed frozen, the very air feeling still and stiff, like in a crypt that had not been opened for hundreds of years.

Simon had to have seen hun...

I built a greenhouse

For a beautiful flower

That bloomed into a stone...

"Hey, everybody. My name is Jay."

"Hi, Jay," a chorus of voices replied.

I sighed and sat back down on my chair, scratching the back of my head. My hand came back bloody, like last time, but I'd stopped freaking out about that hours ago.

"It's just... weird, you know," I began, unsure of what I should say, of what there even was to say. "It still doesn't feel real. It all happened so fast. I mean,...

They tell me I can be

Whatever I want to be

As long as that whatever

Is me

And nobody else

They tell me to be free

And be

Something unique

That nobody has ever seen

Or been before

But what if

Everything good

Has already been seen

Or done

Or made

Or been

What if everything new

That is left

Is strange and boring

What if all I can do

Is strange and boring

What if there is nothing to do

That has ...

In the semi-darkness, the pebbles looked like coffee beans.

I don't know why I'd never noticed that before, but right now, with my head throbbing and my face scraping over the forest floor, it just seemed so obvious.

How long had he been dragging me along this rocky road? No idea.

Did he notice that I wasn't dead yet? Not sure if he would have cared.

Would he be a little gentler with me if he did...