You stand at the edge of the precipice which is not a cliff but a vast, undulating carpet of moss that stretches out into a fog so thick it feels like breathing in wet wool, and you are holding a bag of flour in one hand and a rusted iron key in the other, and you are trying to explain to the person standing three feet in front of you, a man who looks like he has been carved out of the same damp earth as the ground beneath your feet, that you did not mean to follow the path that leads to the center of the circle where the ancient tree with the hollow face is growing, and you are telling him that the flour is for the bread that the village bakers are waiting for, and you are telling him that the key is for the door of the archive where the records of the harvest are kept, and you are telling him that you are only a messenger, a simple vessel for the grain and the metal, and you are telling him that you do not understand why the fog is so loud, why it whispers in a voice that sounds exactly like your mother’s when she was angry, and you are telling him that you are afraid, but not of the fog, and not of the tree, and not even of the man who is staring at you with eyes that are completely white and devoid of any pupil or iris, but you are afraid of the silence that will come after you put down the bag, because you know, with a certainty that settles in your bones like a cold draft, that the silence will be the loudest sound of all, and you are telling him that you will do whatever he asks, that you will walk into the white nothingness if it means the bread will be baked by noon, that you will swallow the key if it means the records will be safe, that you will become part of the moss if it means the village will survive another winter, and you are telling him that you have been a good citizen, that you have paid your taxes and attended the town meetings and kept your house clean and your garden weeded and your mouth shut when the councilors spoke of the necessary sacrifices, and you are telling him that you are tired, and you are telling him that you would like to go home, but you know, with a clarity that cuts through the mist like a blade of ice, that you have no home, that your house is now just a series of empty rooms that look out onto a street that no longer exists, and you are telling him that you are lost, and you are telling him that you are hungry, and you are telling him that the flour in your hand is beginning to leak through the paper bag, and that the white dust is falling onto the green moss, and that the moss is drinking it in, and that the moss is growing faster, and that the moss is reaching up toward your feet, and that the moss is wrapping itself around your ankles, and that the moss is pulling you down, and that you are fighting it, and that you are kicking, and that you are screaming, but your voice is gone, and all you can do is stand there, holding the bag, holding the key, watching the moss creep up your legs, and watching the man with the white eyes smile, a smile that is not a smile but a stretching of the skin that reveals the teeth beneath, and you are thinking that this is how it ends, that you will be buried in the green, that you will become part of the landscape, that you will be the foundation for the next generation of roots, and you are thinking that this is justice, that the system works, that the weak are consumed by the strong, that the individual is sacrificed for the collective, that the root must die so that the tree may live, and you are thinking that you are wrong, that you have been wrong all along, that the tree is not a tree but a monster, that the forest is not a sanctuary but a trap, that the village is not a community but a slaughterhouse, and that you are not a victim but a participant, that you have been feeding the moss with your sweat and your tears and your silence, that you have been watering the roots with your compliance, and that you are responsible for every soul that has ever been swallowed by the fog, and you are thinking that you must stop, that you must break the cycle, that you must refuse to feed the beast, and you are thinking that the only way to do this is to destroy the bag, to destroy the key, to destroy the self, and you are thinking that it is terrifying, and you are thinking that it is beautiful, and you are thinking that you are free, and you are thinking that you are alone, and you are thinking that you are right, and you are thinking that you are wrong, and you are thinking that it does not matter, and you are thinking that it matters everything, and you are thinking that you are the root, and you are thinking that you are the tree, and you are thinking that you are the fog, and you are thinking that you are the silence, and you are thinking that you are the noise, and you are thinking that you are the light, and you are thinking that you are the dark, and you are thinking that you are the beginning, and you are thinking that you are the end, and you are thinking that you are the middle, and you are thinking that you are the space between, and you are thinking that you are the breath, and you are thinking that you are the pause, and you are thinking that you are the word, and you are thinking that you are the sentence, and you are thinking that you are the story, and you are thinking that you are the reader, and you are thinking that you are the writer, and you are thinking that you are the ink, and you are thinking that you are the paper, and you are thinking that you are the pen, and you are thinking that you are the hand, and you are thinking that you are the mind, and you are thinking that you are the heart, and you are thinking that you are the soul, and you are thinking that you are the ghost, and you are thinking that you are the shadow, and you are thinking that you are the light, and you are thinking that you are the dark, and you are thinking that you are the truth, and you are thinking that you are the lie, and you are thinking that you are the real, and you are thinking that you are the fake, and you are thinking that you are the present, and you are thinking that you are the past, and you are thinking that you are the future, and you are thinking that you are the now, and you are thinking that you are the forever, and you are thinking that you are the never, and you are thinking that you are the always, and you are thinking that you are the sometimes, and you are thinking that you are the nevermind, and you are thinking that you are the whatever, and you are thinking that you are the anything, and you are thinking that you are the nothing, and you are thinking that you are the something, and you are thinking that you are the everything, and you are thinking that you are the one, and you are thinking that you are the many, and you are thinking that you are the other, and you are thinking that you are the self, and you are thinking that you are the stranger, and you are thinking that you are the friend, and you are thinking that you are the enemy, and you are thinking that you are the ally, and you are thinking that you are the traitor, and you are thinking that you are the hero, and you are thinking that you are the villain, and you are thinking that you are the saint, and you are thinking that you are the sinner, and you are thinking that you are the angel, and you are thinking that you are the devil, and you is thinking that you are the god, and you are thinking that you are the mortal, and you are thinking that you are the divine, and you are thinking that you are the human, and you are thinking that you are the animal, and you are thinking that you are the plant, and you are thinking that you are the mineral, and you are thinking that you are the energy, and you are thinking that you are the matter, and you are thinking that you are the space, and you are thinking that you are the time, and you are thinking that you are the dimension, and you are thinking that you are the reality, and you are thinking that you are the illusion, and you are thinking that you are the dream, and you are thinking that you are the waking, and you are thinking that you are the sleep, and you are thinking that you are the death, and you are thinking that you are the life, and you are thinking that you are the birth, and you are thinking that you are the end, and you are thinking that you are the beginning, and you are thinking that you are the middle, and you are thinking that you are the whole, and you are thinking that you are the part, and you are thinking that you are the sum, and you are thinking that you are the difference, and you are thinking that you are the product, and you are thinking that you are the quotient, and you are thinking that you are the remainder, and you are thinking that you are the divisor, and you are thinking that you are the dividend, and you are thinking that you are the equation, and you are thinking that you are the solution, and you are thinking that you are the problem, and you are thinking that you are the question, and you are thinking that you are the answer, and you are thinking that you are the mystery, and you are thinking that you are the secret, and you are thinking that you are the truth, and you are thinking that you are the lie, and you are thinking that you are the real, and you are thinking that you are the fake, and you are thinking that you are the present, and you are thinking that you are the past, and you are thinking that you are the future, and you are thinking that you are the now, and you are thinking that you are the forever, and you are thinking that you are the never, and you are thinking that you are the always, and you are thinking that you are the sometimes, and you are thinking that you are the nevermind, and you are thinking that you are the whatever, and you are thinking that you are the anything, and you are thinking that you are the nothing, and you are thinking that you are the something, and you are thinking that you are the everything, and you are thinking that you are the one, and you are thinking that you are the many, and you are thinking that you are the other, and you are thinking that you are the self, and you are thinking that you are the stranger, and you are thinking that you are the friend, and you are thinking that you are the enemy, and you are thinking that you are the ally, and you are thinking that you are the traitor, and you are thinking that you are the hero, and you are thinking that you are the villain, and you are thinking that you are the saint, and you are thinking that you are the sinner, and you are thinking that you are the angel, and you are thinking that you are the devil, and you are thinking that you are the god, and you are thinking that you are the mortal, and you are thinking that you are the divine, and you are thinking that you are the human, and you are thinking that you are the animal, and you are thinking that you are the plant, and you are thinking that you are the mineral, and you are thinking that you are the energy, and you are thinking that you are the matter, and you are thinking that you are the space, and you are thinking that you are the time, and you are thinking that you are the dimension, and you are thinking that you are the reality, and you are thinking that you are the illusion, and you are thinking that you are the dream, and you are thinking that you are the waking, and you are thinking that you are the sleep, and you are thinking that you are the death, and you are thinking that you are the life, and you are thinking that you are the birth, and you are thinking that you are the end, and you are thinking that you are the beginning, and you are thinking that you are the middle, and you are thinking that you are the whole, and you are thinking that you are the part, and you are thinking that you are the sum, and you are thinking that you are the difference, and you are thinking that you are the product, and you are thinking that you are the quotient, and you are thinking that you are the remainder, and you are thinking that you are the divisor, and you are thinking that you are the dividend, and you are thinking that you are the equation, and you are thinking that you are the solution, and you are thinking that you are the problem, and you are thinking that you are the question, and you are thinking that you are the answer, and you are thinking that you are the mystery, and you are thinking that you are the secret