Hello. It’s so nice to see you again. It’s been awhile, forgive me. I understand that two months is a rather long time. But it seems you have supplied me with enough inspiration to keep me going. My reserves are full…my host and I haven’t felt this good in awhile. I express my, no our, gratitude.

First, I must address those who have acknowledged me. Please understand that I am a very enigmatic Word Devourer, see, and my last installment might’ve been rather confusing to you. It is hard to explain my situation, but all questions will be answered in due time, as best I can. A nod to you, Artemis Quill.

Also, I did chuckle at Tsakadragon’s questions. At ease, dear writer. From what I know, my host and I have never been plagiarized…and I hope that is the truth. Although it may sound hypocritical of me as a Word Devourer, I do not enjoy plagiarism…at least when it comes to me and my host’s writing. And do not worry--this tale is no cryptic warning, nor merely a random idea, although your questions, worries, and considerations are taken kindly. And if it is more that you desire to know from me, who am I to refuse?

Because I promised you a tale last time, didn’t I? A tale through my eyes, no one else’s, not even the other part of me, the writer? Yes, I did. And a tale you shall get.

I would like to tell my story from the ending, but I believe a proper introduction to my life is in order. Let me tell you about my host, how I came to be. Maybe you’ll understand my situation better there.

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I want to write.

That’s how it always starts, isn’t it? With that simple of a thought? Those four simple words, so easy, childish, even… this is the very one that defines our very existence? Yes, I suppose it is. I don’t know whether to laugh at this ridicule or not! Our very reason for our creation shames us, our potential, for those four words can be formed without even really thinking. Yet at the same time, this thought you create, this feeling…can take years to fully understand or comprehend. Fascinating.

I want to write.

That’s the first sentence I heard in my coherence, in my existence. With it radiated a feeling, all my own.

Want. I felt wanted. I am wanted.

As soon as I could grasp this ‘emotion’, I cherished it, treasured it, caressed it within my mentality…turning it over in my head, discovering every inch of it, what it meant. And with it, I began to catch faint senses, and another emotion, which at the time was alien to me: happiness. Happy. What a beautiful word.

And from there, everything expanded. I sometimes wonder how other Word Devourers saw their beginning. In my case, my body learnt so quickly, knowing what to do while my consciousness didn’t. In my newborn ‘mind’s eye’, I felt myself and saw myself gain a form. I was dark purple and black, vaguely representing a shadowed human body. I felt myself shift restlessly on its own, as if not knowing what it was supposed to be. Parts of my form changed like layers of wispy fog, while my general figure remained the same. It was strange, but seemed natural to me. My body, my ‘it’…could not become much then (for lack of words), but from this and other words developed my miraculous shape-shifting ability.

Of course, I didn’t know of that then.

All I knew, as my senses developed at a incredibly rapid rate, was that I was enclosed in a small space—a corner of the writer’s mind—and it was dark and dusty like an…an…my mind searched for another word in my then miniscule vocabulary…Ah, dark and dusty like an attic, long since used…if at all. I vaguely registered myself as lying on the floor of this ‘attic’, barren of windows and doors, darker mists and shadows ghosting over my form gently, tickling my senses.

For you see, unlike human newborns, I had a full conscious and comprehension ability of my surroundings as soon as I was existent. I could already form words in my head, as if we Word Devourers came with a basic set of them automatically. Maybe we did. But I was unsure of my purpose, or of where I was. Becoming doubtful in this dark unfamiliar place, I barely had the time to wonder on how I knew those words and phrases I had just come to know and use. I did not try to further experiment with them. Instead, I weakly curled into a fetal position, like an embryo.

Then, in a flash of realization, in the midst of my vulnerability, I remembered those ‘words’ once more. Those joyous phrases that had brought me into this realm. I quickly became anxious, suddenly wanting to find the comfort and happiness in those again, for a reason I knew not. But where to find those words again? I looked around in futility.

Luckily, I soon realized they were right with me.

Looking down, I opened my dark, translucent palms, drew on my pre-existing knowledge to create ‘eyes’, and there they were. Somehow, I had known all along. And it had taken my breath away. What rested in my hands were those words I want to write, compressed into a glowing, yellow, circular object. My lips formed, and I moved them. I spoke the phrase. Then another. Mother. My mother. Well, not exactly, but it was the only word I could find to explain the reason of my creation at the moment, and it was this glowing ball. A parental figure it became, that glowing, warm sentence, which lay, so simple, in my hands.

Peering closer, I could even see those words, few they were, move fluidly across the sphere form it had obediently become. Going in circles, weaving in and out, rearranging, swirling…it fascinated me, and I stared at this wondrous light for many moments, before I held them to me possessively, like a stuffed toy. It pressed snugly against my chest, the golden glow washing my contrasting body. For in my joy I was terrified that those words would be snatched away from me. It became like a lantern in the dark corner of the mind I was born in, a companion, calming my still stabilizing form.

I knew not how long I was there (I presumed not very long, although senses of time pass differently between Word Devourer and author, as I came to know), but suddenly, I felt the proverbial ground underneath me…shifting. And a feeling—not my own-- seeped into my ‘room’, my senses. It was a warm, hot chocolate-y feeling, not unlike the words that I still held close to me. Curious and naïve, I stood up, looking around in the darkness. I did not know how to speak or communicate, but my mind was abuzz with thoughts. Some of which were mine, some of which…were not. Needless to say, in my first few minutes, despite what I knew, I was confused. After all, we rely on you authors, your experiences and knowledge, to grow. I was like a little orphan child that had woken up in a place they didn’t know.

Then, I waited, feeling the sense grow closer, allowing it, welcoming it to open up to me. It was friendly and a bit hesitant, curious all the same. I felt so many similarities within it; and my ‘fear’ began to dissipate.

The feeling reached me. Then suddenly, light began to fill up where I was, starting slow, but gradually growing brighter and brighter, fast and faster. It advanced upon my like the sun rising over the horizons, filling up the corners, advancing. Starting with my feet, up my legs, to my waist…and with it, the dark mists that surrounded me, the cobwebs and the faint smell of dust, the walls I felt but didn’t see, fell away. A few seconds later the scenery, changed, began to melt back. I was standing; next I was floating, on nothing and something solid at the same time. It is, I fear, impossible to describe, but to me I had materialized in a space that was rather empty, but expanded on forever. How I saw it was that I was standing on some flexible-like plastic, translucent ground that was as blue as the sky. I stood there stupidly, a tiny little Word Devourer, still clutching that small glowing ball of words.

I finally turned full circle, taking in what I saw. At first there wasn’t much to see (blue ground, white sky), but out of the corners of my eyes I saw glimmers. Sparkling outlines of doors, catches of images (the word immediately entered my head—memories), doors and grounds shifting endlessly around me, while nothing moved at all. It was mind spinning. What was this place? Came my thought. I didn’t know really how to describe it, what to make of it. That too, made me curious and excited at the same time. But whenever I tried to reach out for anything, it vanished. Why couldn’t I touch it? It perplexed me.

And just as suddenly, everything stopped, and I was left alone. No more doors that tantalized my brain, no more sparkling images that intrigued me so. Blue, jelly-like ground, white, plaster-like sky. Nothing else. Little did I know was that I was in another part of my host’s mind, the one that in itself was new and developing, thus its emptiness. It was waiting for me, and discovering this new world of writing in the process. It was waiting to be filled. So, I too waited. Still nothing. Then, in my hands, still clutched against me, the ‘word sphere’ (which I called and established it as) began to hum. I stared down at the tiny thing that rested in my palms. What was happening? The sphere continued to hum, and began to smolder, then shake, trying to break free from my grasp. In that moment where I comprehended what it was trying to do, I did the only thing I knew, instinctively—

I panicked.

I knew, I knew that without this sphere, these words, I would be nothing. I would be confined to the dark, claustrophobic space to wither into nothing but ash and dust. I didn’t want that! Frightened, I tried to close my palms on the ball, to prevent it from moving anywhere. That was foolish. Words cannot be contained. It merely resisted me, pressure building, trying to expand beyond my grip. But I fought with all my might and tightened by dark palms around it, ignoring the fact that the words began to burn me. In consequence, my hands had begun to evaporate into purplish mist and disappear, like fog off water, burned by the sun… The sphere glowed hotter and brighter, trembling violently. I increased pressure, forcibly trying to get it to stay.

And it exploded.

To my horror, the yellowish, glowing words flew in all directions, going straight through my hands and breaking into individual letters as they did. For a shocked moment, I opened my palms and stared at them, before looking skyward to find those precious words I had, to my shame, unraveled. But those glowing individual letters, instead of falling to the ground, like gravity states, floated lazily through the air, while I remained rooted to the ground.

For a moment I stared, not quite understanding. How could that be? Why wasn’t I no longer existing, either? Weren’t those words me? Imagination and the power of the mind was still a new concept to me.

There, I saw my chance.

I began to jump up and down, arms reaching out, flailing, trying to catch these precious things. But to my dismay, the golden letters had begun to float out of my reach, still vibrating, humming, and glowing oh so enticingly. After awhile of jumping to no avail, I gave up, staring down at my hands in despair. Oh, I wished I could extend them or something (which I didn’t know I could do at the time). But nevertheless, something there made me forgot those evasive words for a moment. As I watched, my still unstable form’s hands, half gone from the rebellious words burning them away, had begun to regenerate, purple matter from other parts of my body flowing into them like blood to a wound, compensating, patching me up.

I began to wonder at this too. What was going on? What was this place exactly, how did it work? When would my questions be answered? I fretted. I still didn’t even know my purpose, but my life, I admitted, sure was interesting thus far. My hands, fully healed, fell to my sides, and I glared up at those glimmering letters. If only they would say something! I knew, that somehow, they could.

But they seemed insistent on ignoring me. Their humming only increased, starting to escalate in pitch, until they reached an unbearable whine. I clapped my hands over my ears, not recalling any of the words holding a sound to them.

Then, beyond their litany, I heard a sound, like rushing water, growing steadily louder.

I whirled. What I saw was…amazing and overwhelming.

There, flowing toward me, gently easing up and down, was a whole expanse of gold. It was unfolding in front of me, towards me, like a spool of loose cloth, its magnitude stunning as well as frightening. It was, in fact, thousands upon thousands of those golden words and letters in a swirling mass, far beyond my comprehension, knowledge, or handle. And it stood out against my bland and chalky surroundings. This, I later came to know, was words my host had known, and it was coming to me on instinctive need alone.

I glanced over my shoulder. The phrase I want to write, floating there, now beyond my reach,had come to me. And as I watched, that phrase, broken into golden, glowing letters thanks to me, shot off from behind me like shooting stars, towards the rest, joining as a bird would to their flock.

Subconsciously, I turned fully to fact this onrush slowly, hands removing themselves from my ‘ears’. I watched, completely transfixed. A part of me wanted to run,

but the rest of me waited eagerly for this. But why? I wondered. Soon, I had found my answer. A few golden words, faster than the main mass, escaped to me. As I watched in amazement, they sunk beneath my dark, phantasmal skin. I barely felt a thing. I stared at where they had disappeared into my arm for a few moments.

For a second I thought there was to be no reaction, but afterwards… with their abrupt intrusion, I felt something. A rush, an awakening…a desperate hungering for knowledge which I had previously never known suddenly hit me hard. I felt seized, possessed by this sudden desire, something close to a frenzy. I was suddenly painstakingly aware of how deprived I had been. But those words had provided me with an insight, understanding. I needed more.

Then, not quite aware of what I was doing, I spread my arms wide, a gesture in welcoming this flood of golden letters that still advanced towards me, drawing ever closer. I grinned, a tinge of madness within that smile. This was before I have become calmed, as I am now…I thought there was an endless supply of these words waiting for me…

I was ready…a part of me whispered then, almost sadistically. I was ready to consume and learn it all.

And it, the flow, met me, just as gladly. In its last few seconds before it reached my form, it narrowed into a funnel or arrow shape, pulled towards my center hastily by some force, faster and faster on some preset, narrow path, like a magnet.

It hit me lightning fast. Like an electric surge, I became engulfed entirely in crackling gold. It was warm, it burned, it was hard to tell what was happening…but most of all, it distorted me…so I tried to consume it quickly, and the only way I could: By absorbing it all into my body. Yet there was so much, such a magnitude, I was knocked straight off my feet when I tried. And the golden waterfall of letters, still pulled towards me, followed, swirling around me like a cyclone of vicious birds.

Before I even knew what was happening, before I had realized I had abruptly lost control of whatever situation I had gotten myself into…

Instead of me devouring it, it had devoured me.

To Be Continued…

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