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There are monotone rabbits jumping, pacing around inside my head. Three, four, maybe hundreds, I do not know. I do not count. I try to catch each of them, beg them to keep still… My body lay on the bed resembling a forlorn petal whisked by the harsh wind. There is turmoil, increasing in size, between my temples. It clouds my vision, exhausts my eyelids. I want to surrender to this lethargy in complete awareness, and abandon. Send all of my senses to sleep, sink into oblivion. Forget to wake. But the rabbits keep me conscious—alert, triggering the throbbing sensation I’ve been denying.

The bleak white light put shadows into hiding—behind mirrored objects. The faint smell of cigar penetrates my nostrils. There is a sound coming from vehicles below the street orchestrating a medley of roaring engines and things passing. The sound. The sound. The sound confirms that time is still running. The world continues to orbit—as I remain static. Except for the rabbits prancing and bouncing. I attempt to wrap them in darkness, imagine them dispersing, vanishing….

I spiral down in a trance.