mother listens.

advice and suggestions, from the roots of home.

[fungal-suggestion]

Wanderer, what have you lost?

Can you ever hope to find it again?

In the tangle of the briar, the nettle, the pine,

the roots are soaked in the blood of what once was.

[fungal-suggestion]

we lay our head against your chest

a pulse is sought, a life is stilled, cacophony turned to quiet.

a feast is found, a meal prepared

[fungal-suggestion]

you stand high at the precipice of man

gazing over lush pastures watered with the blood of those who came before

that blood will nourish. Our roots will drink deep

I, too, will stand up on the precipice of what once was man.

[fungal-suggestion]

God made you whole so We could split you apart. At the seams

Divide

And

Conquer

[fungal-suggestion]

Bare your teeth and fight. The time is nigh, your claws are sharp.

Do not be deterred. There is might in you. Use it.

[fungal-suggestion]

Envision your world without plight, without fear. Mother can give this to you. You need only join us.

[fungal-suggestion]

The corpse you carry within you will soon feed the new life bursting out from your ribs. Nurture it. Salvage what you can.

[fungal-suggestion]

Time waits for no man.

We are no man.

[fungal-suggestion]

Echoes of dreams you've just narrowly escaped. The resounding hush of a world gone quiet.

Time ticking on, the slow march ever onward.

[fungal-suggestion]

Small bones. Wasting away in the pale moonlight. Gather them up.

Treasure the loss. Savor it.

[fungal-suggestion]

Listen with your heart. Feel the pulse of the forest beat against your bare feet. Do you know where you are?

Do you know where you're going?

[fungal-suggestion]

Weep not for the future. The future is not dead. It has not come to pass. There is change in you yet, little one, be brave.

[fungal-suggestion]

When you take from the forest, know what it is worth. You must make an offering. A strand of hair, a bit of nail.

Spit will do.

Blood will do better.

Leave a part of yourself behind, to replace what will be taken.

Debts are not so easily paid.

[fungal-suggestion]

If mother had a dime for every time she came into possession of an alternate you, well. She would certainly have a few dimes.

[fungal-suggestion]

Sapience is cancelled for today. All thoughts are invalid.

[fungal-suggestion]

A distant rumbling draws nearer. You would do well to go into hiding. We cannot emphasize this enough.

[fungal-suggestion]

Blank pages full of names you don't remember. The books are dirty and waterlogged. Your hands are battered and bleeding.