This is how it ends. (Various small edits made on December 7, 2025.)
A revised version of a revised version of a revised version of a revised version of a fic I first published in or around 2003. Something I could never stop tinkering with, because it was more obviously flawed, as well as more obviously promising than most of my other stuff. I doubt this will be this story's final form.
***A note on format:*** Please don't read this in "View entire work" format. The reason I posted it in chapters is that I found out, after much trial and error, that it read a lot better when punctuated by short pauses, the kind you experience when you have to click on a link to read the next bit. That's why I ended up splitting the fic into nineteen parts which, on my website, used to be displayed on nineteen linked pages. The chapter mode here in the archive seemed the best way to imitate that format.
This is how it ends.
A man on a desert plain, standing by a hole he has dug with his bare hands. He stands slumped yet proud, slack only with exhaustion and a hint of tired derision. His hands hang by his sides as if lifeless. His head is inclined the slightest bit, but not enough to signal submission - not to the people who have come to execute him.
Yes, this is how it ends. This is how it ends --
Remember.
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