2023-01-06
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@ -16,6 +16,202 @@ ideas' witlessness;
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ideas' witnesses;
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ideas-
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2023-01-06
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2022-05-04
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Interview
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Olive set herself down on a blue chair with stainless steel gray legs
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that grasped a red tiled floor thinly but strong enough at least for her right
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then. The weather outside was beautiful, a clear sky with few clouds, and the
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sun would rise in an hour, though Olive could see none of this because the
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cramped office in which she and her chair were captive was windowless. The
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silence was set to the beat of Olive tapping her jeans with her nails and
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looking at the, to her, very large vent next to the flickering fluorescent
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light in the suspended ceiling. The cheap desk in front of her wasn't very big
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but still barely left room for her against the wall, on it was miscellaneous
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unsorted paperwork. This was the first, most potent memory Olive would have of
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her time working for Durmer Burger.
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There came two knocks at the door and it was ajar. The lead manager,
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Paul, smiled with nearly all of his teeth before pulling it open. "Olive, is
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it?"
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"Yes." Olive stood up and held her hands at her sides, intending to
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shake Paul's hand if he offered his. He didn't and simply sat down behind his
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desk. Olive sat down as well.
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"This is an impressive resume. You volunteered at the humane society
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for two years?" Paul's salt-and-pepper hair stuck out under a brown DURMER
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WORKER hat.
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"Yeah. I had some spare time and wanted to help out."
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"Good, good. I see you did take some cooking classes at school. You
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might be able to teach us a thing or two. I know our kitchen can be a little
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strange to new hires but I think you'll get along fine."
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"I hope so."
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"So do you want to stay in the kitchen, or do you want to take orders?
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Maybe a little of both?"
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Olive looked at the desk for a moment before looking back at Paul. "I
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think starting out in the kitchen would be good, but I don't know."
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"Alright, kitchen, then play it by ear. Sounds good." Paul put on a
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sickness of a smile and reached out with a bent elbow to shake Olive's hand,
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which she followed.
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After Olive left the room Paul leaned back in his chair and began to
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seize. Foam fell from his lips onto his gray uniform. The chair fell over to
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Paul's right side, to the door, and Paul hit the side of his head on the
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doorknob as he fell onto the floor while his chair scuffed the beige wall
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behind him. As his blood dripped slowly onto the tile the fluorescents finally
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gave out. Neither the kitchen crew nor the order takers heard Paul die, though
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Sam, who usually was relegated to the fryer in the kitchen, noticed the light
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was off while sneaking out to the dumpster to smoke a joint of marijuana. He
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knocked, asked the order takers where Paul was, and continued out through the
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back entrance to the dumpster. On his way back he noticed Paul's car was still
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parked outside the entrance. Sam checked both bathrooms (each empty) and opened
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the office door ajar to see if Paul maybe was taking a nap on the clock. That's
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when Sam found the body.
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After Olive left the room she walked out of the restaurant through the
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front entrance, looked up and down the street for traffic, though there rarely
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was any, and crossed Canal Avenue over to the Chinese buffet where she turned
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right and started walking home. She watched ambulances and a police car fly
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down the road and didn't see any significance in it.
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Paul's shoulder was mostly holding the door shut but Sam could see the
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drool on the floor. He ran away to the front and told the order takers, who
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called the local emergency number. Two ambulances and a police car stopped in
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the drive-through and brought out a stretcher, some paramedics, and a police
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officer. While the paramedics took care of the body the officer questioned
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first the order takers and then Sam, whom the officer noticed was high. Officer
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Daniels didn't make a note of it.
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On a computer screen somewhere (anywhere) in a factory a worker watched
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a man seize and die on closed circuit television. He picked up a telephone and
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dialed for his superior who was on the same connection. The superior went down
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to the worker's office and stared at the still conveyor belt behind the worker,
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on top of which neatly laid a number of burger wrapper papers. The superior
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asked what the worker was doing and the worker explained that a man had just
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died inside the burger store (Durmer Burger). The supervisor stared at the
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press, then the employee, then the ink buckets that lay beside the press
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peppered with warning labels regarding the composition of the ink. The
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supervisor considered how hot the ink had to be to be in a liquid state. Then,
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silently, the supervisor grabbed the employee by the ear and violently threw
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them into the red tank. The employee opened their mouth to scream but only
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music came out. The most beautiful music the supervisor had heard. It came to a
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crescendo as the worker's face dissolved and they lost consciousness due to
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shock but it played on even after the employee's decrescendo. Red splattered
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onto the burger wrappers.
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2022-05-04
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Recomposition
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"Hey." A figure in a black trenchcoat, wearing green circular glasses a
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bit too big for their head, tapped Olive's shoulder as she lay on the road
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foaming at the mouth. "Hey Olive. Wake up."
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Seeing that Olive was dead, the figure started walking down the road
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backwards, facing Olive. When Olive's body flew up and started walking
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backwards towards Alan's the figure crouched and continued sneaking, staying
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out of Olive's field of view. This figure watched Olive make her way backwards
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to the gas station and eventually made it behind Durmer Burger as Olive
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shuffled backwards towards the ground outside the broken door and lay down in
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front of it. Olive flew into the door and the glass beads on the ground
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arranged themselves into a full sized window pane. The figure waited a minute
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or two on a mechanical wristwatch before heading towards the front of the
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building.
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All was quiet in the neighborhood. No birds chirped, no squirrels
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rustled trees, and there were no cars on the street. The figure in the black
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trenchcoat retrieved a black purse from their belt, took out a tension rod and
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paper clip, and started to pick the lock. Within a couple seconds they got
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through and held the door open. Soon Olive came running out of the portal.
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"Hey."
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Olive clutched her arm and turned around. "Hello?" Her face was twisted
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in pain.
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"Hi, I'm here to invite you to Saikokon." The figure smiled with a few
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more teeth than fit a human. "It's free!"
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"Saikokon?"
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"Yes, yes. It's quite a surprise, isn't it?"
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Olive looked around her. "What?"
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The figure frowned and put their purse back on their belt. "Alright,
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well, I'll take that as a yes, which isn't quite consent but otherwise in a
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couple minutes you won't be able to either way. I'm gonna need you to hop on
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this scooter." They took a small, collapsible Razor scooter out of their
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trenchcoat from a strap across their front and unfolded it. "It's a bit shabby
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but I don't like cars' emissions."
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Olive stared at the scooter. "I'm sorry – this is a lot to process. I
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need medical attention."
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"Yes, I know, and either you can pour some isopropyl alcohol on your
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arm and die on that street drooling or you can get on this scooter and go to a
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clinic. So which is it?"
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Olive stepped onto the scooter. Her foot was barely small enough to fit
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on its platform, leaving no room for the other. She adjusted her weight to
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balance.
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"Great. Now, I'm going to have to ask you not to puke. This is going to
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be extremely disorienting for you. Would you like a blindfold?"
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"What?"
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"A blindfold. It obscures your vision."
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"Why would I want a blindfold?"
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"In case of inadverdent motion sickness or blindness."
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"I could go blind?"
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"You could always go blind."
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"Will this increase the risks of my losing my sight?"
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"Olive my dear," the figure grabbed onto the middle of the scooter's
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steering apparatus firmly and steadied themself, "you have never seen." The
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figure started slowly walking, dragging Olive along, both through space and
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time.
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I'm writing this at 0400. I can't sleep.
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I didn't sleep much the
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night before this, or the
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night before that, but I
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just can't.
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I can't sleep.
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I'm not tired, except I'm
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a little tired - I just
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yawned. But I'm not
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tired. I can't sleep.
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I'm so tired. I don't
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want to sleep but I need
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sleep. But I can't sleep.
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I can't sleep
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! and I'm awake and I've
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been awake since noon? I can't
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remember and yesterday I
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still only slept maybe a
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couple hours for which I
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am thankful but I need sleep.
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And I can't sleep.
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And heavy is the head
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that wears the crown;
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heavy also is the head of
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the insomniac, the bitter
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dead-wake hound that
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howls in its gutty pain
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and makes mortals fear
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its cosmically lucid mind
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that can strike upon them
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an understanding so great
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they too will never sleep
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again. Never rest their
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head on a pillow, never
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lay in sheets, never
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breathe a great calming
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breath. They too can't sleep
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like I can't sleep.
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Why can't
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I sleep
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? Why must I
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never sleep
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but stay on guard and on
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edge and listening to the
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rustle of the vents and
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automotive traffic on the
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street behind me, past my
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window? Maybe I can sleep
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but it's the world that
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stops me. Maybe I
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halt the world. I
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don't care. I
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just want to sleep
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! I
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need to sleep
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! Let me sleep
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!
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2023-01-05
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2021-07-07
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