Nightfall. Nighttime. Night. Darkness. Stars. Moon. Wait... moon? Moon, round and bright. Crescent shaped. Moon. Sun? No, sun is gone. No sun. Good. Sun is bad. Sun is evil. Darkness is good. Darkness is perfection.

Now we build.

Bit by bit, block by block. Darkness consumes, but no matter. Moonlight enough, more then enough. So I build-- we build. They are not far, but I am alone. Black skin. White eyes. Long arms. Long legs. Tall, too tall. Building, always building (but why?)

Sandcastles (previous night). Wooden tower (not mine). Waves of the ocean--

OCEAN!

OCEAN! AWAY get

away get away

get away get away

get away get away--

Safety.

Safe.

I escaped. Water far away. Keep it away. Building again. Towers, pyramids, anything, everything. Far away, they are far away. I cannot see them. Oh well, must build, they will be fine.

Small tower, getting larger. No joy, never joy, must build. Resources, need them now. Sand easy to aquire, dirt harder...

Eyes.

Watched. Am I being watched?

Turning, turning, AH! Eyes! Person! Being!

PersonThingBeingWatchingMeWatchingEyesPersonBeingThingStaring.

It stares at me. It is watching me. I will watch it. It wants my building. It wants my things, my resources. It wants me to DIE.

Posession. MY THINGS! MINE. I will destroy it. The staring thing. Why does it watch me? Why else would it? Attack. Must attack. When it turns away... Attack. Attack. Fists. Rage, ever consuming. Tear it apart. Use its head. Yes. Place it atop the built thing. Blood. Yes. YES! It will not destroy. No.

I WILL DESTROY.

Staring. Forever. Scared. It is scared. Eyes wide. Fast breathing. Not that far away.
Brethren. Where are they? Must find them. Later, though. First, must watch. Must destroy.

It has weapons. They glint in the moonlight Fear. Scared. I am scared. It can destroy me. Destroy my buidling. Rip me apart--

No.

NO!

I will wait. Attack unnanounced. Destroy. Kill. _Yes.

"Hello?" It speaks.

IT SPEAKS. It wants me to respond. Will not give satisfaction. No. Cannot respond. Whatever. Whatever. Eyes on pickaxe. Yes. Use to mine resources. To build. Yes! Eyes on sword. Shimering in moonlight. Moon. Overhead now. Night is ending soon. Must attack. Must kill. Protect me, protect building.

Unimpressed. Frowning. Wanted me to be weak. Wanted me to crawl away. Yes. Yes. Evil thing. Must die. Must die.

Stare. Stare. Stare. Stare.

Moving away. Yes. Perfect.

I am still.

It blinks.

It turns.

....

_{I jump.}




Running. Jumping. Sand gone. Building behind me.
Attack.

ATTACK.

ATTACK.

KILL.

DESTROY.

Golden sword out. Golden sword for defense. Claws (my claws) ripping into it. Screaming. It is screaming in pain. My ears, MY EARS! I attack harder. I rip harder. Slashed at by sword. Black blood oozing from me. Attack more. Rip. Tear. Hit. Punch Rip Hit Tear Rip AttackHitTearRip...

Screaming subsides. Blood gushing everywhere. Everywhere. Sticky mess. Like water, but less. Good.

I turn. Green thing stares. Black eyes. Fear. It explodes (can explode). Destroy everthing I create! Will not attack. Cannot attack. It hisses.
Upset? I stole its kill?
Bonecrushing fear. Fear. Fear!

....

"Hisssssss." Silent. Will it explode?

....

And it retreats. Tension ceases. Relief.

And I am alone, body bleeding, tools lying on the ground. No mouth, cannot smile, but feel good. Yes. Tools! Lifting the blue pickaxe. Joy. Unending joy. I can build faster. (Build more.) Shovels. Good. Armor too small (covered in blood). Moon glinting off the surface. What? Axe. Axe. For trees? Wood! Create better structures. Wood. Helpful.

My bag now. My tools now.

Discard the sword (claws work better). Leave the body. Cannot carry head. Leave it. Return to structure. Moon only watches. Others come, watch my progress. Pride, but not done. Never done.

Digging until morning. Mining until morning. And then we hide.

Sleep.

Sleep.

_Sleep.