• The catacomb was infinitely old and infinitely horrible. It held full of dark passages with high ceilings where the eye could see only nooks and shadows. The damp stones where always shadowed by giant tree roots, which were so dark that canal light barley helped. Although I realize that through my many years I must have been cared for by someone, I cannot recall anyone other than myself. I have never heard a human voice and I never thought to speak aloud. My aspect was a mater equally unthought-of for there where no mirrors in the castle. I imagine myself akin to the figures I saw drawn and painted in books. Finally the time came that my longing for light became so strong that I couldn’t resist it. Even though the castle has one ancient tower that looms above the trees and stairs that no longer ascend to the upper parts. I had planed to scale that tower, even with the distinct possibility of falling, since it was better to glimpse the sky and perish than to never see the light of day. I climbed the pitch black stairs as far as I could then raised myself precariously on whatever small hold I could find until I reached a large dark chamber, finding a door and forcing it open to see a miraculous light at the end shining through an opening. I ran to the opening and peered out expecting to see the tops of trees. What I saw then astonished me. The monuments and stones of a cemetery greeted me as I gazed. How could I be at ground level? As I walked through the opening I was driven by some strange instinct, or perhaps memory, to move along a road to another castle. Unlike the castle in which I had been raised, this castle was not in ruins. In fact the road was filled and the windows where lit. Guided by the light I walk forward, as I heard sounds of revelry. I could see joyous people when I approached the windows and I wished to join them. I stepped over the road and the people began to scream. In the panic they ran or were dragged away by fleeing companions. My skin dripped for the thought of what might be near me unseen. As I looked across the room I made my first sound, a gasping moan as it came into view. I cant even hint as to what it was like for it was a compound of all that is unclean uncanny unwelcome abnormal and detestable! As I raised my hand toward it, it moved closer and in one cataclysmic second of cosmic, nightmarish and hellish accident, my fingers touched the rotting outstretched paw of the monster beneath the golden arch, and in that second all the horrific memories returned. I finally recognized the abomination that stood leering at me. Crashing out of the doorway I ran back to the cemetery. Strangely though, I couldn’t force myself back into the dark. Instead, I sit here in hiding even to this day, knowing always that I am an outsider. As a stranger in this country among those who are still men I sit. I have known this since my hand touched the cold unyielding surface of polished glass.