Charlie Dowd (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
the_second_noel) wrote2024-07-27 09:28 pm
the_second_noel) wrote2024-07-27 09:28 pm
for Zane
The largest road of Carcosa circles downwards and inwards, as do all the other roads.
On that road, a human man wanders against the steady foot-traffic of the city's other inhabitants. He's unfed, unwashed, and unshaven, with thousand-yard eyes; he watches the others as they pass him, trying to stay focused on the here and now. Some of the creatures are less human-looking than others. Even the most humanoid among them have a quality that puts one's teeth on edge. You could almost press the visual into your skin and pinch yourself awake.
The figures are grotesque: more shapes than figures. More patterns than shapes. There's sweat in the man's eyes. He waves a hand in front of them to fend off an unseen gaze; his fingernails catch, and he pulls and keeps pulling, the images in front of him tearing away in long strips like burnt skin. It will take him a few moments to remember that this is impossible. In the meantime, he's crouched in front of a hotel wall, peeling off strips of brittle yellow wallpaper.
On that road, a human man wanders against the steady foot-traffic of the city's other inhabitants. He's unfed, unwashed, and unshaven, with thousand-yard eyes; he watches the others as they pass him, trying to stay focused on the here and now. Some of the creatures are less human-looking than others. Even the most humanoid among them have a quality that puts one's teeth on edge. You could almost press the visual into your skin and pinch yourself awake.
The figures are grotesque: more shapes than figures. More patterns than shapes. There's sweat in the man's eyes. He waves a hand in front of them to fend off an unseen gaze; his fingernails catch, and he pulls and keeps pulling, the images in front of him tearing away in long strips like burnt skin. It will take him a few moments to remember that this is impossible. In the meantime, he's crouched in front of a hotel wall, peeling off strips of brittle yellow wallpaper.