Excerpt from “Dark Tip Forest” (Nick McKernan) pg. 20
She turns to say goodbye. The carriage cranks its wheels back into motion, rolling down the mountain road with caution.
The entryway is a little further on, slightly down a path of eroded stairs. She moves through the grass, noticing the crumpled statues of a long, snakish creature with speckled dots. She lifts her dress up slightly, watching her steps as the stairs dissolve into loose rubble. She cuts to the left and sees a doorless entryway at the base of the tower. She enters.
INT. THE RUIN OF MOVING NIGHT - CONTINUOUS
The interior of the tower is expectantly quiet. She looks up, seeing ten stories rise above her. In the same spot of each floor, a large circular hole is carved out of the stone, leaving a massive circular opening to stare up at the sky-- as if the tower was made for it.
She passes under a stone archway, the first steps of a massive spiraling staircase in front of her. There are small gaps in the stairs where the stone has eroded, yet she moves past them without much worry. Doorways on each floor lead to ringlet balconies and rooms for prayer. She moves past them slowly, thinking of who might have filled them once.
On the eighth floor, the staircase has broken beyond repair. A mass of jagged stones roll up too far for even someone spry to make the leap. This is the furthest she can go. She moves to the balcony on this level, but stops to look through the giant hole in the ceiling.
Blue clouds with pink underbellies. The sun is rising.
She turns and walks under the only arch she can see, leading to the balcony.