1. It Started with a Shovel
They told me not to dig. But the earth was soft, and the morning was grey, and something hummed beneath the roots like an old song playing backwards. That’s where I found the bendelorm. Not a bendelorm—the bendelorm.
It shimmered like wet film in the dark. Long as regret. Pale as memory. I didn’t touch it. Not really. But I felt it. Like a thought you try not to think, curling quietly around your spine.
2. The Dog Knows
Back in the van, Ludde stared at the fridge. Not barking. Just staring. I offered him a waffle. He didn’t blink.
It felt like something had hit the brakes on reality. The trees outside swayed wrong. Too slow, like they were underwater. Or watching me.
3. Rearranged Skies
That night, the stars weren’t where they belonged. Slightly off, like a book misfiled by one letter. Still readable, but unsettling.
I lay awake, the image of the bendelorm coiled in my mind. Moving. Always moving. I swear I heard it whisper through the pines, something like: “You brought this on yourself.”
4. What It Takes
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