..:~/$%@##                                          ##@%$/~:..
.:~/$%@###                                          ###@%$/~:.
..:~/$%@##                                          ##@%$/~:..
...:~/$%@#                                          #@%$/~:...
....:~/$%@                                          @%$/~:....
.....:~/$%            ###~         ~###             %$/~:.....
......:~/$             #               #            $/~:......
.......:~/             # tele migraine #            /~:.......
........:~            #               #             ~:........
.........:             ###~         ~###            :.........
..........                                          ..........
..........   the so called "third migraine". it's   ..........
.......... like a regular migraine but it does not  ..........
.........:   hurt there's no pain, the cosmos is    :.........
........:~     there and it's draining the evil     ~:........
.......:~/        straight out of the wound.        /~:.......
......:~/$                                          $/~:......
.....:~/$%   it's massaging your temples, piercing  %$/~:.....
....:~/$%@  you, entering your blood, cracking the  @%$/~:....
...:~/$%@#   skull open. a paw grips your brain,    #@%$/~:...
..:~/$%@##   plays with it, pulls it out into the   ##@%$/~:..
.:~/$%@###                 cosmos.                  ###@%$/~:.
..:~/$%@##                                          ##@%$/~:..
...:~/$%@#      there's comets! space oddities.     #@%$/~:...
....:~/$%@   solitary oscillations. carrier wave.   @%$/~:....
.....:~/$%  burned away by the suns radiation until %$/~:.....
......:~/$      only the faintest trace remain,     $/~:......
.......:~/   eventually caught in the gravity well  /~:.......
........:~    of some second rate water planet.     ~:........
.........:                                          :.........
..........            it's raining sap.             ..........
..........       we're getting sweet and wet        ..........
..........                                          ..........
.........:            ###~         ~###             :.........
........:~                                          ~:........
.......:~/   my lunch break is over and i need to   /~:.......
......:~/$   get back to the shop. lynne is there   $/~:......
.....:~/$%  alone and hasn't eaten yet. i take the  %$/~:.....
....:~/$%@  back route up from the beach to avoid   @%$/~:....
...:~/$%@#    the crowd. sing a little to myself.   #@%$/~:...
..:~/$%@##                                          ##@%$/~:..
.:~/$%@### life gets to prosper outside of.@/~~~ -  ###@%$/~:.
..:~/$%@##    suddenly, an acid flashback: i step   ##@%$/~:..
...:~/$%@#   down in my mind (like an open mind /   #@%$/~:...
....:~/$%@   fractal stinger / bismuth staircase)   @%$/~:....
.....:~/$%   and wade in shadows... surrounded by   %$/~:.....
......:~/$            memory negatives,             $/~:......
.......:~/         like uprocessed film....         /~:.......
........:~                                          ~:........
.........:            ###~         ~###             :.........
..........                                          ..........
..........  we're closing for the evening. the shop ..........
..........    is in the bottom floor of a narrow    ..........
.........:    mudbrick building, painted teal. we   :.........
........:~  live on the second floor, together with ~:........
.......:~/     the owner. as i close the metal      /~:.......
......:~/$    curtain, behind its characteristic    $/~:......
.....:~/$%       sharp rattling i can hear the      %$/~:.....
....:~/$%@              curfew sirens.              @%$/~:....
...:~/$%@#                                          #@%$/~:...
..:~/$%@##   wormy street wolves outside, chasing   ##@%$/~:..
.:~/$%@###     entrances in the dark alleyways,     ###@%$/~:.
..:~/$%@##  wanting in, getting desperate, lapsing  ##@%$/~:..
...:~/$%@# to search higher, on roofs, climbing on  #@%$/~:...
....:~/$%@ balconies. and there's bound to be some  @%$/~:....
.....:~/$%   reckless tourist who didn't heed the   %$/~:.....
......:~/$  warnings, never closed their windows... $/~:......
.......:~/                                          /~:.......
........:~  or, in some cases, the houseowner had   ~:........
.........:   the window bolts weakened, and when    :.........
..........  cleaning up the aftermath would pocket  ..........
..........            their belongings.             ..........
..........                                          ..........
.........:                                          :.........
........:~                                          ~:........
.......:~/                                          /~:.......
......:~/$                                          $/~:......