.places a coiled, black centipede into Howard's palm.
✦✦✦ ─────── IT CURLED ON HOWARD’S PALM like a dark new moon, with a heft he had forgotten centipedes could weigh, at the size it could grow into. He swallowed thickly, bringing the creature closer to his face to observe. Something tugged in his heartstrings: warm, kind, protective. These are the creatures who dwell within earth, tilling its soil, the same fruit of nature as he was and will ever be. Dead or alive. To Earth, to earth, Howard is a part of the cycle, no matter how delayed.
“It’s… cute.” The transfixed gaze remained steady even as the creature unfurled, wandering on the surface of his palm in what seemed like a brief confusion. When it found purchase on the side of his cheek, seeking warmth and shelter in his decay, Howard made no attempt to flick it away. The crawl of its many legs pricked his skin pleasantly. He wanted it to stay.
“So, what… you’re like Snow White, but with bugs. Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
















