I

The wispy tendrils of someone else’s thoughts pulled at the edge of Richard’s thoughts. He could feel someone or something there, just beyond, but he couldn’t quite see them. They were hiding in the shadows, yet beckoning his consciousness to venture forth and join them. It was an ominous feeling, to have such a welcoming presence hiding in the shadows, and Richard recoiled from the inner core of his being at the other’s touch. A sinister, foreboding voice in his mind told him to run farther, but it was matched by a tone of curiosity from his inner child.

Richard reached out with a thought and probed the other’s hiding spot. Gently at first, then more aggressively when the other ignored him. Then it was Richard who was the hostile one, cutting through and pushing through the darkness trying to grasp onto the ghostly lines cast out from the other. A jab in one direction yielded nothing, so he turned his mind and thrust out in the other direction, momentarily finding purchase before faltering. He could almost hear the inhuman laughter of the other as it danced out of his reach.

It laughed, and he lunged again. It continued to laugh, and Richard ran hopelessly in circles. Then it was silent and Richard was alone.

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