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#DTs
delirium tremens
[[begin]]=><=
[[I can’t stop the shaking.]]=><=
my whole body is shivering.
my heart is pounding.
I think there are pauses in the beat.
[[my head…]]=><=
I am sweating like a pig.
so thirsty.
[[where am I?]]=><=
so bright. sand.
I feel sand.
I seem to be lying on my back.
[[try to get up.]]=><=
right. no legs.
so thirsty.
I can’t stop the shaking.
[[it’s so hard to see.]]=><=
squinting really hard now.
storm.
there is a storm.
on the horizon.
sand in every direction.
I wish I would stop [[shaking]].=><=
how did I get here.
I am terrified.
so thirsty.
my heart.
wait, I hear [[something]].=><=
//ticking.//
can’t stop the shaking.
somehow I manage to
fumble it out of my pocket.
[[a pocket watch. rusty.->rusty.]]=><=
I can hear it ticking.
but the hands do not move.
it seems to be looking at me.
there is something attached to it.
[[a chain.]]=><=
my hands are too slippery.
I let it fall into the sand.
the pocket watch lands on its legs.
it has eight legs.
the chain is now a tail.
[[it has a stinger on it.]]
=><=
the scorpion looks at me.
it is still ticking.
“welcome,” it says.
[[“welcome to hell.”]]=><=
I ask the scorpion-watch if I am dead.
it blurts out a laugh.
“hah!”
my heart skips a beat.
“no, not yet,” it says.
[[“you did this to yourself, you know.”]]=><=
the storm got bigger.
I can hear it now.
[[coming closer.]]
=><=
“what do you remember?”
the scorpion-watch asks,
pointing its stinger at me.
the shaking.
thirst.
[[my tounge hurts.]]=><=
“you’ve bitten yourself during a seizure.”
it is taunting me.
I can’t talk.
the shaking gets worse.
[[darkness.]]=><=
“you blacked out again. that was another one.”
“remember anything yet?”
I am…
I was, a soldier.
a soldier, until I lost my legs.
[[thirsty.]]=><=
“yes.”
“and then you started drinking,”
“and you never stopped.”
the scorpion-watch is still ticking.
the storm is still getting bigger.
[[I am still shaking.]]=><=
“do you know where you are?”
we’re in a desert hellscape,
you dumb insect.
“no. you are in a hospital.”
[[“they are trying to save you.”]]
=><=
lies.
save me.
shivering.
[[shaking.]]=><=
they've put me in this desert,
to kill me.
the scorpion-watch looks at me.
[[“this isn’t the first time we’ve met.”]]=><=
“you’ve been here many times.”
it keeps pausing.
“too many times.”
[[“this will be your last.”]]=><=
“you have brain damage.”
“it’s called ‘kindling’.”
“but you wouldn’t listen.”
[[“I feel bad for you.”]]=><=
I don't need your pit—
“this whole thing,” it interrupts me.
“this place.”
“the sandstorm.”
[[“me, even. just a hallucination.”]]=><=
[[“you might live, though.”]]=><=
“you might live or you might die.”
“you’re bound to a wheelchair anyway.”
[[“it won’t make a difference.”]]=><=
why are you telling me this.
“because you don’t have a choice.”
“you live or you die.”
[[“maybe you died a long time ago.”]]=><=
“…”
[[my head.]]=><=
“…”
[[my chest.]]=><=
“…”
[[my hands.]]=><=
“…”
[[I can’t stop the—]]=><=
[[the storm.]]=><=
[[“goodbye.”]]=><=
[[—shaking…]]=><=
THE END
[[restart->start]]=><=
[[arrived.]]