the underside of derry –– sewers that stretch for miles, sodden and stinking. a place for rotting . . . a place for monsters. and yet waterlogged sneakers draw the boy forwards through murky water, through this place he had been before and had hoped never to see again. but alone this time : the one critical difference . . . ( all magic fled, his mask torn away. no great leader, no big bill – just a child playing at king arthur. thrust into a story where the monsters were no longer make believe. ) and yet he carries on, not because he wants to but because he has to, following a path predetermined for him from the moment he had made that paper boat and sent his brother on his way. marching onwards to either slay the beast or have the beast slay him. ( will the monster be bested, or will it feed ? ) at least until a movement catches his eye, captured in the dull beam of his flashlight and then gone, but enough to draw him up short, every muscle freezing. a boy battling fight or flight. ❝ wh - wh - who . . . ? ❞ / @clearvoir













