And now at the end, you break down, you come. You do not remember any words of the sort, but you have become more forgetful lately. That is it; you are here because you wish to remember. To know if you will be alone once he is gone. Harumph, he answers to the latter. You think I know? Or care? That was your shortcoming. Your love of this world. Your spectacular self-indulgence. To you, the Palace of Air and Water was a playground, eternal, come and go as you please. Same with this land. You could go any-where, without us, certainly without us, be-cause you could survive alone, unlike the rest. And now you drag yourself here, seeking a companion. You strike him, this arrogant would-be royalty, with your thin arms. No, you hiss. No companion. Just an answer. He shifts so that he lies on his back, his generous belly protruding, and re-gards the barren sky above. It has not rained Lin Page 17 here for years, he mumbles. All you see here is alive because of me. Energy that could have been spent staying alive. No regrets. I will finally be Home. He laughs like a child might against a vanquished bully, and angered by that implication, you pluck his last remaining whisker. It hangs limp in your hand, then with a pressing of your fingers, it crumples to ashes. I told you I don't need a companion, you snarl, the wheat bending from the force of your thoughts. Give me the answer. His jade eye has hardened to dull stone, the shimmering watercolors of his skin now bleed gray. The truth is a companion, he whispers. Yours is that you will never leave. And even as you reach out for him, the sun vanishes and his body splits into shadows that flee across the fields like birds. You find yourself clutching at dirt that now kicks in your face, and the roots of the wheat that had bent to your will moments before now stands ram-rod straight, buttressed