....^~*%$£                                          £$%*~^....
...^~*%$£@                                          @£$%*~^...
..^~*%$£@#                                          #@£$%*~^..
.^~*%$£@##                                          ##@£$%*~^.
^~*%$£@###                                          ###@£$%*~^
.^~*%$£@##         %*~~~~~^^^.  .^^^~~~~~*%         ##@£$%*~^.
..^~*%$£@#         %                      %         #@£$%*~^..
...^~*%$£@         % mirage class goth gf %         @£$%*~^...
....^~*%$£         %                      %         £$%*~^....
.....^~*%$         %*~~~~~^^^.  .^^^~~~~~*%         $%*~^.....
......^~*%                                          %*~^......
.......^~*                                          *~^.......
........^~ i used to be a goth, in my youth, doing  ~^........
.......^~* crimes mostly from or in my beloved and  *~^.......
......^~*%  trusted car, and sometimes my mothers   %*~^......
.....^~*%$    barn. we lived just outside town, a   $%*~^.....
....^~*%$£   grove at the end of a dirt road, and   £$%*~^....
...^~*%$£@   the barn was placed so you could just  @£$%*~^...
..^~*%$£@# make out the surrounding fields through  #@£$%*~^..
.^~*%$£@##                the trees.                ##@£$%*~^.
^~*%$£@###                                          ###@£$%*~^
.^~*%$£@##   my car was black and loud, both the    ##@£$%*~^.
..^~*%$£@#   engine and the way the parts didn't    #@£$%*~^..
...^~*%$£@     really stick together. i took my     @£$%*~^...
....^~*%$£ crimefriend for rides, in the dark, the  £$%*~^....
.....^~*%$   eternal dark that seemed to surround   $%*~^.....
......^~*%   us. she seemed to cast this veil over  %*~^......
.......^~*  everything. her black skirt reached to  *~^.......
........^~   her knees but then somehow also back   ~^........
.......^~*  around, enveloping all my memories of   *~^.......
......^~*%            our time together.            %*~^......
.....^~*%$                                          $%*~^.....
....^~*%$£  there was blood everywhere. sometimes   £$%*~^....
...^~*%$£@   the blood was her red lipstick or her  @£$%*~^...
..^~*%$£@# checkered shirt. she was on television.  #@£$%*~^..
.^~*%$£@##     we did crime, and we made weird      ##@£$%*~^.
^~*%$£@### structures in the barn, tall pillars of  ###@£$%*~^
.^~*%$£@##  dark wood, ladders and plateaus, fires  ##@£$%*~^.
..^~*%$£@#  and fairy lights. we would sleep there  #@£$%*~^..
...^~*%$£@ and drink there and she would go in the  @£$%*~^...
....^~*%$£               television.                £$%*~^....
.....^~*%$                                          $%*~^.....
......^~*%  and then the sun came out, and she went %*~^......
.......^~*  away. everything changed... i yearned,  *~^.......
........^~   and the world became dull around me.   ~^........
.......^~*                                          *~^.......
......^~*%    i stopped doing crime, except when    %*~^......
.....^~*%$  necessarry. things somehow seemed like  $%*~^.....
....^~*%$£   they were allright, moulded in place,  £$%*~^....
...^~*%$£@   and i loathed it ------ i missed her   @£$%*~^...
..^~*%$£@#                 so much.                 #@£$%*~^..
.^~*%$£@##                                          ##@£$%*~^.
^~*%$£@###                                          ###@£$%*~^
.^~*%$£@##            ~~~~~^^. .^^~~~~~             ##@£$%*~^.
..^~*%$£@#                                          #@£$%*~^..
...^~*%$£@                                          @£$%*~^...
....^~*%$£  i searched for her, but nobody had any  £$%*~^....
.....^~*%$    memories of her. not so much of me    $%*~^.....
......^~*% either, from the time we were together.  %*~^......
.......^~*  my mother said i kept to myself in the  *~^.......
........^~           barn, or in the car.           ~^........
.......^~*                                          *~^.......
......^~*%      sometimes i could still see her     %*~^......
.....^~*%$    flashing by on the tv in the barn.    $%*~^.....
....^~*%$£     everything was black then, for a     £$%*~^....
...^~*%$£@ moment. i remembered her laugh and knew  @£$%*~^...
..^~*%$£@#   we had done crimes together, that it   #@£$%*~^..
.^~*%$£@##             had been real...             ##@£$%*~^.
^~*%$£@###                                          ###@£$%*~^
.^~*%$£@##                                          ##@£$%*~^.
..^~*%$£@#             ~~~~~^^. .^^~~~~~            #@£$%*~^..
...^~*%$£@                                          @£$%*~^...
....^~*%$£                                          £$%*~^....
.....^~*%$    i died by getting shot in the head    $%*~^.....
......^~*%  while ramming the fence to a military   %*~^......
.......^~*   facility. by this time they had been   *~^.......
........^~    chasing me for days. i lost control   ~^........
.......^~*   over the car, crashed it into a rock   *~^.......
......^~*%    wall and flew out the windshield.     %*~^......
.....^~*%$                                          $%*~^.....
....^~*%$£  and then i got up, and looked around.   £$%*~^....
...^~*%$£@   it was dark, where it previously had   @£$%*~^...
..^~*%$£@#    been a bright day. around me where    #@£$%*~^..
.^~*%$£@##   dozens of crashed cars, all my car,    ##@£$%*~^.
^~*%$£@###               some on fire.              ###@£$%*~^
.^~*%$£@##                                          ##@£$%*~^.
..^~*%$£@#       the ground was sticky, red.        #@£$%*~^..
...^~*%$£@                                          @£$%*~^...
....^~*%$£   and then i realized that i knew this   £$%*~^....
.....^~*%$     darkness. i knew the way the sky     $%*~^.....
......^~*% touched the ground. this was her doing!  %*~^......
.......^~*               she was here!              *~^.......
........^~                                          ~^........
.......^~*                                          *~^.......
......^~*%                                          %*~^......
.....^~*%$                                          $%*~^.....
....^~*%$£                                          £$%*~^....