When the cliffs came into sight, I found that I wasn't ready to see them. Their vast dominance of the sky, those dizzying heights, even from this far away, toyed with my body's perception of which way was up. The sensation that I was about to fall sideway…

It's dark and the rats are eating my sleep. They feast on my lack growing fat and fearless. I've been in bed for three hours, tossing and turning, and each time I slide from consciousness into that darkened stage of the first dream, the crinkle of paper o…