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you remember bong back from season one. back when he was dan, short and strange and funny. never too far behind logan. tilted his cap backwards as he pitched just as awfully as you, and you laughed about it together. the two weak links in the rotation but it never really mattered. nothing matters, really, it’s just a game.
the book opened. jenna died. randy joined the team and bong stuck to her like glue. aldon died. danny played worse.
the Peanuts decree passed and he locked himself in his room. came out as a peanut bong / a chrysalis / definitely not danny. and you sympathized with them when it happened. you didn’t really understand, though. how could you? it hadn’t happened to you, couldn’t happen to you.
and then it did.
ball. 1-0.
it is the top of the seventh inning. day 10 of season 19. logan horseman, one of your best friends, has been dead for three days. a peanut-scented wind blows through the stadium and you shudder.
strike, looking. 1-1.
it is the top of the first inning. day X of season 9. you have been trapped in a shell for two hundred twenty eight days, and now you’re out, finally out. a peanut-scented wind blows through the shoe thieves’ stadium and power fills you. this is your calling, three batting stars shining a hole straight through you as words that are not yours roll off your tongue.
TIME TO TEACH YOU SOME DISCIPLINE.
Francisca Sasquatch tastes the infinite! Flattery McKinley is Shelled!
and it is glorious / terrible / what you were made for. what you always dreamed of doing. there is a dead god screaming in your ear as you slam the ball into the sky, telling them all to WITNESS TRUE POWER.
Francisca Sasquatch hits a Single! Shoe Thieves took 1,501,482 damage!
reality asserts itself in flashes.
Francisca Sasquatch hits a solo home run! Hall Stars took 6,016,109 damage!
a woman screams. the sour breeze whispers SURRENDER.
Francisca Sasquatch hits a Triple! Hall Stars took 4,507,133 damage!
it is everything you have ever wanted. the rustle of peanuts on the field claims YOU ARE NOTHING.
Francisca Sasquatch hits a Triple! Hall Stars took 4,512,473 damage!
it is your grief / mercy / gift to the georgias, Fools who have never known discipline.
strike, looking. 1-2.
(PODS took 20,506 damage!)
it is over in a second. it is infinite. it was always going to happen.
it is the bottom of the ninth inning. day X of season 10. everything is falling apart and you’re seeing red (THEY ARE MINE) and you are watching in the outfield as
Tyreek Olive hit a ground out to Francisca Sasquatch. Hall Stars took 375,715 damage!
foul ball. 1-2.
(PODS took 10,556 damage!)
it is the top of the seventh inning. day 10 of season 19. you’re up, gripping your bat so hard it feels ready to crack. you’re ready to crack. your shell is ready to crack. you’re
you’re
dominic marijuana steps up to the plate.
you strike out looking.