the glass factory.           
                                        
                                        
                                      
                                  
                                  
                                          
 several  centuries  after  it  had  last 
 belonged to us,  we went on an outing to 
 the  glass factory  that bore our family 
 name. it had  changed owners  many times 
 since  our  ancestors  death,  and  then 
 stood  abandoned  for   a   long  while. 
 finally,  the natural  end  station  for 
 the  buildings that  survive:  a museum, 
 and a gift shop.                         
                                          
 there's  a  long  time  since my  family 
 made  anything.  by  many,  we would  be 
 considered poor.                         
                                          
 there  are  two main factory  buildings, 
 domed things of several floors,  made in 
 yellow brick. large but  narrow windows, 
 reminescent     of    some    cathedral. 
 custom-made glass, of course,  large and 
 leaded, and ashen. a bit too dark  to be 
 practical.  on  the   eastern  building, 
 some are shattered.                      
                                          
 the other one is  publicly open. there's 
 a  museum, with wax figures of my  great 
 great great  grandfather,  or something. 
 various tools (or  replicas) laid out on 
 tables, with  explaining texts. a lot of 
 glass      of     varying     thickness. 
                                          
                                        
                                      
                          
                                      
                                        
                                          
 i quickly sneak out, and climb  into the 
 other   building.   the   contrast    is 
 overwhelming.   it   must   have   stood 
 derelict   for  a  long  time,   windows 
 broken,  metallic  trash  and  pools  of 
 dark  glass  all   over  the  floor.  no 
 electric lights,  but i can see  by  the 
 light that  shines in wherever  the dark 
 windows    are    missing    a     pane. 
                                          
 however, the  greatest difference is the 
 higher  floors:  this building has none. 
 it is one massive hall,  stretching away 
 infinitely  above me. somewhere up there 
 is  some  great  iron latticework,  from 
 where chains  are  suspended,  and parts 
 of  machinery  has  been  falling  down. 
                                          
 there  is,  in the middle of  the  great 
 hall,  a   thin  spiral  staircase  that 
 leads up  there. i sneak over there, and 
 take a  few  reluctant steps. after just 
 a revolution, i  notice  that  for  each 
 step  the building starts to  glow,  the 
 bricks  turning  a  dark red,  and  then 
 orange,  all  the piled  up debree being 
 lit from behind.                         
                                          
 i stop  ready to run  down  and out, but 
 there's  someone else on  the  staircase 
 with   me   now,  pressed   close.  he's 
 looking  like  me,  short hair  and thin 
 arms, but  with  ears from some  animal, 
 and  more disturbingly, completely  made 
 of dark liquid glass.                    
                                          
                                        
                                      
                          
                                      
                                        
                                          
 my  fear holds  me  in  place  while  he 
 starts  operating  levers and  dials set 
 in the center of  the staircase. slowly, 
 it  starts spinning,  circling  upwards. 
 it's  an   elevator!  i  start   to  run 
 downwards,  but  now   the   liquid  boy 
 creature  grabs  hold of me.  i  try  to 
 shake him  off, but he's too strong, and 
 pulls   me    back    up   beside   him. 
                                          
 this time,  i  turn angry  instead. what 
 the hell?  who is  this guy, acting like 
 this? i reach  out  my free arm and slam 
 a  random  lever.  some  metal   bar  is 
 suddenly  released  between  us, hitting 
 him  on the  arm, forcing my  release. i 
 shove  him off of  me, and he falls into 
 the    levers,    messing    them    up. 
 immediately,  a   thin  rusty  chainmail 
 curtain  is  dropped  around me. but the 
 elevator also  speeds  up significantly. 
                                          
 the  walls  are  flaring   now,  yellow, 
 white, almost  blue. i close my eyes and 
 curl into  a  ball. but then,  the glass 
 boy  screams,  a   piercing  sound  that 
 forces my eyes back open. i  watch as he 
 becomes  too liquid,  his  body  pooling 
 down in his now massive  tail,  and  the 
 tip of  it suddenly breaks of in a glass 
 drop  that  falls  toward  the   factory 
 floor.                                   
                                          
 he's crawling  on the  stairs, unable to 
 keep  his body upright. can't  reach the 
 levers,  claws  at  my  chainmail  cage, 
 while  his body  is  turning  into  dark 
 pearls. finally, he's lost  too much  of 
 himself  and  the  scream  is cut short. 
 the    last    of   him   rains    down. 
                                          
 i  still  can't reach  the  levers  from 
 within  my  cage.  looking up, i  try to 
 make out  the ceiling,  but it's  all  a 
 whirling sea of  colours. below me glows 
 the  hellfire  of the factory walls, but 
 very  faint. i sit down,  curl back  up, 
 become still.                            
                                          
                                        
                                      
                          
                                      
                                        
                                          
 a large clunk  shakes  my  entire  body, 
 and  snaps  me  back into  reality.  i'm 
 back  at  the  factory  floor,  but  the 
 stairs  are   still   moving   slightly, 
 clicking in place, carrying  me the last 
 few  centimeters.  i  came  from  below, 
 somehow.  the  chainmail  is  retracted, 
 and   i  slowly  dismount   the  stairs. 
                                          
 shaking and  crying, i make my way  over 
 the factory  floor, wading  through dark 
 glass  marbles. a quick glance down, and 
 i  see  there's  something  faint inside 
 them.    embryos?    are   these   eggs? 
                                          
 i   shudder,   and   climb   back   out.