Stairs

Stairs. Stairs? There are many stairs.

So many stairs. Don’t fall. Each step goes up. They could go down, but they don’t. Only up. One, two, three. Up, up, up. The stairs that go up. They climb higher. Or is it just you? Yes, perhaps it’s just you. You’re going up. The stairs stand still.

But do they really stand at all? Stairs stand. Standing stairs. Walking up the standing stairs. Up the stairs that stand.

Voices grow louder. Voices? Yes, the voices. The ones that grow louder as you go higher. Higher up the stairs. The stairs that stand. The voices grow. Growing voices. Like children. The growing voices like the growing children. The small children. The ones with weak arms. They play games. Children play games. You play games too. Games with the children with weak arms.

Children aren’t strong. They have weak arms. Weak-armed children. Like the growing voices. The voices that are growing louder now. You hear the voices. They remind you of the children. The voices are the children. The weak-armed children. The ones that play games with you. The ones that lose.

Rain outside. Too much noise. Your ears hurt. The stairs keep rising. Or is it just you? Water dripping somewhere. Drip, drip, drip. Too much noise. Like the children. The children make too much noise. The ones that lose the games. They make too much noise. When their weak arms break, they make noise. Like the water outside. Drip, drip, drip.

You trip on a step. On a step? A step. The step of a stair. A standing stair. You trip. You were rising, but you tripped. Try to grab a wall. The wall that stands. Like the stairs? Yes, the wall stands like the stairs. You can’t grab the wall. Trip. Head hits a step. The step of a stair that stands. Your head feels sticky.

Touch your head. Your head feels sticky. There is something sticky on your head. Look down. Down on the step. The step of the stairs. The red step of the stairs. The red is sticky. The sticky is red. Blood? Blood like the rain. Drip, drip, drip. Too much noise. Voices of the weak-armed children grow louder. More noise. Blood falls. Drip, drip, drip.

Like the children. The ones that lose. The ones that lost. They played with you. Played games. They lost the games. The weak-armed children lost. You broke their bones. The voices cried. You heard their blood. Drip, drip, drip. Like the rain. The rain fell like the children. Over the edge. Down, down, down. Not like the stairs. They only go up. But you are the one that goes up. The stairs stand still.

Walking up the stairs. Rain falls. Blood drips. You keep walking. The stairs stop. They end. You’ve reached the end of the stairs. Stairs end? Well, stairs stand. Like the walls. So they can end. Can walls end? But you stop. You open up the door. The doorknob is cold. Cold like the rain. Drip, drip, drip.

The room is dark. The voices are loud. They hurt your head. That makes you angry. You walk forward. The voices get louder. You smile. Want to play a game? Play a game with the weak-armed children. They’ll lose. They always do.