text: Ted froze where he was. He didn’t know what to make of it. Of all things he expected, that wasn’t remotely in his mind. He stared in its eyes, and it stared back. Ted noticed that they had a sparkle not present back when he left his buddy Julius in the tent, barely half an hour from their last talk. Ted had done what Julius asked him to do. “Go to the guy with the creepy mask! Get some of the blues for me, quick! I need them, dammit!”, and Ted complied. He did so because he had never heard Julius in such a desperate and frustrated tone before. He always saw Julius as the chillest guy he had ever met, even in the times pre-flash. Maybe even too much chill. Except the same ol’ jolly face, Ted had never seen that man display any other emotion. It was like he had a mask constantly over his face. But, in the brief time that the two were together, it seemed like the mask was slowly fading away, feebly showing the presence of the abyss that haunts most of the men of Olathe. And now, what did remain of the old man that was once Julius? A nightmare. A crooked and malformed parody of Julius layed in front of a bewildered Ted. Ted could barely recognise his pal. His body grew horribly, it bloated and expanded all over, causing the tent to fall over Julius in a vain attempt to hide the monster from the terrified eyes of the world. His stomach seemed like it had exploded from the inside, causing it to swell in a rough round shape. The legs has disappeared, engulfed by the belly. His torso twisted over itself like a screw made out of flesh. His arms stretched and pulled, becoming contorted and elongated. They grasped the soil beneath them with sickly calm. It was phisically repulsive and painful for Ted to look at that display of depraved fantasy. He couldn’t believe his friend had become such a monstrosity, even though the evidence was right in front of him, staring at him with the same ol’ jolly face Ted knew. There was silence. Only the melancholy howl of the wind filled the empty valley around them. Ted sat on the ground, with his hands on his head, sobbing. Tears run down his cheeks. Ted had hurried, like Julius told him to. He run far and wide in desperate search of the vendor with the creepy mask. Only if the weirdo hadn’t moved from his last spot Ted would have made it in time to save his friend. Ted remembered the chuckle of the creepy guy has he gave him the little blue pills. It resonated over and over in his head. He felt guilt building up in his chest. Ted didnt’ want to fail Julius. He didn’t want him to suffer like that, all alone. He just wanted his only friend back. Ted stood there for a while, looking at the monstrosity, in silence. Eventually, someone arrived. He heard his steps behind him. Ted turned to see a tall man, armed with a spiked club and armoured with a worn-out bullet-proof vest. The man’s long black hair were animated by the feeble breeze. Ted had never seen him before. He didn’t like him. He didn’t care much about him, or anything in general in that moment. The man came up near Ted, towering over him. “Are you allright?” he asked. Ted said nothing. Couldn’t care less. “Mpf... at least you seem ok...” The man continued: “Look, you should get away from it. You never know when one of these may jump at you...” “And where do you suggest me to go?” Ted asked angrily. “Look man, I don’t give a shit where you should go. Fine for me if you wanna stay here... just don’t crawl to me asking for help when this thing rips off your legs.” Silence. Then Ted got up and slowly walked away from there. He had lost everything once again, and once again he needed to travel around Olathe in search of something or someone to make his life worth living. The bright sun shone in front of Ted. The wind pushed him toward the horizon. The thought that he had to commence his search all over again made him feel disheartened. He pulled one of the little blue pills from his pocket and stared at it with tired eyes. Ted had no one to give this pills to anymore, except himself. Ted gulped down the pill, just for the heck of it. He could feel it travelling down to his stomach. He felt something strange happening inside him shortly after. The sadness that filled his heart was taken over by a comfortable numbness. Ted now felt nothing. He was grateful to the pill for relieving his pain and felt happy that he had a couple more for later. Ted walked down the road, toward a fate he didn’t know anything about, and never turned back, for he didn’t have anything to look back to.