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He looked over at me and added. "You must remember this, when you are lost, trust the child within...return to your heart." His words struck like an electric jolt. "Oh, and I must tell you, the other life of this world will aid you and the children. Be careful with their lives, many of them are vulnerable. You must protect and serve them." I started to ask another question and turned to him. I saw a strange look in his eyes and then "ffffffooooop" the little black boy was gone.

I looked around for the Big Red bottle and it was nowhere to be found. Imaginary or not, I was glad I wasn't holdin' hands with him when he decided to take a powder. I stood under the haggard skeleton of a tree, lifeless and bare, and looked up at a swirling and dangerous sky. Dark, threatening clouds tumbled past with unnatural speed, giving me an unnerving sense of the earth's spin. For a moment, I was struck by vertigo and feared I would be thrown off like some kind of insect into the boiling cauldron above. I tore my eyes away from the heavens and shuddered, afraid of what else I might have to confront.

There was a hollow phosphorescence hanging on the surrounding landscape. I shivered as my eyes focused where the cold light lay on a decrepit wrought iron fence immediately in front of me. The rusted old barricade contained a single gravestone, all chipped and covered with mildew and lichen. The marker was almost entirely swallowed by a snarl of thorny vines. It tilted sideways, threatening to capsize as the roots pushed mercilessly from below.

A deep, frozen terror was building in my stomach. I held it down as I lifted the latch on the gate and walked into the small compound. I knelt in front of the grave and tried to read the inscription on the stone. As I brushed the surface with my fingers, trying to scrape away the lichen that obscured the worn epitath, I came too close to one of the thorns and felt a sharp pain in my finger. I jerked my hand back and holding my wrist somewhat shakily, examined the cut.