《Who praised their God?》 Metamorphosis of the Worm They''ve bound me entirely, except for my head and mouth. Turned into a mummified worm, I feel the bands gnawing at my skin. The sound of them crawling around my body echoes in my brain, denying me the solace of sleep. White bands seem to have passed through the flesh of my body, reaching my bones. They''ve halted their movement, swirling around my bones, eager to incinerate my entire being. The scent of formaldehyde overwhelms me, and my hair begins to fall out. I scream and scream again, the cries tormenting my ears. Looking down at my lower body, instead of bands, my entire body is covered in fishnet-like threads. I''ve become a marine worm, crawling on the ocean floor, smoothing its threads to avoid the hooks of fishermen. The soundproof room is open. I leap onto the square tiles, heading for the door. The room is as cramped as a dwarf''s stride. I must crawl like a worm to enter the hall. Everything is illuminated. All threads of light! Colorful lights! Tears well up in my eyes from sheer joy. Even each square on the floor is embedded with light. "Prepare to take the pill." The voice echoes from the speaker. A group of six, with different light motifs, crawl forward, guided by the tail of a worm bathed in soft pink light. The pink worm carries the words, "Any volunteers? How are youuuu?" Six worms turn towards it. The pink worm strikes one of them with its tail. Five worms attempt to attack, but one, with intense light, defends against the gentle pink worm. "Separate. I warn you, keep your distance." The lights on the floor begin to shake. Each light settles under a worm, connecting to the threads of their bodies. They can''t move and suffer from light shock. Each light exits from a different worm, and I revel in the sight. After a few seconds, their mouths drop open, and then, with wide-eyed stares, they continue on their way. The lights on the floor return to their places. The speaker repeats, "Prepare to take the pill." Twelve worms stretch out on individual lights, and I return to the soundproof room. From inside the room, I observe events outside. Two nurses attend to the worms, giving each one a capsule. The capsules illuminate their bodies, and the worms are shocked. The nurses observe each worm''s condition for a while, then move on to the next. With a rod in hand, they insert the capsules into the worms'' mouths and extract them. The worms fall motionless from the pressure for a while. One of the nurses approaches the soundproof room. Bending over, she whispers, "It wasn''t your time today. Enjoy your peace." Her voice, the voice of a wounded nurse, refrains from punishing me until my punishment arrives. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. "Stand up from the floor. The food is ready." All the bald sea worms (what I call sea worms) crawl on the floor of the madhouse, and I, standing proudly, rule over them. I raise my hand as a gesture and halt them all. Hey! You! Haven''t you seen the order to stop? You''re so confused that you defy the command of the king, the son of the sun ruling all these realms! Should I tell them to strip you, so you become helpless as a worm? Huh? Do it! The green worm with a smooth head and a full crown of dark hair approaches with a graceful demeanor, shaking its bald head. Oh, the owner of a smooth and unwrinkled head! Forgive me. I apologize for the tiny wrinkles around your eyes. I have been waiting for you for a long time. May I take the liberty of untying your curtain of lunch? The green worm bows its head. Drops glisten among the upper threads of its body, and it sticks them to the ground with its head. Always this troublesome? Get away from my sight. I''m sweating. The queen, make me pregnant with the pain of your fiery manor, so I can bear the small pains like thorns. Make me pregnant with yourself. Okay, whatever you say. Come on, let''s go out of the bathroom. The nurse puts her arm around my neck and spins me out of the bathroom. Another nurse pulls my head toward her. She drags me out of the bathroom. The other nurse, with all four hands and feet, passes by the bathroom door. From the bathroom, she looks at my head, which she is dragging toward her. - What are you doing in front of the mirror?! Come on, let''s go. - Oh, stupid nurse! Only the mirror releases me from the humiliation of this moment. Oh! O sun, make me pregnant with the pain of being a manor, so I can count the small pains as thorns. Make me pregnant with yourself. Whatever you say. Come on, let''s go out of the bathroom. to be continued... An Artistry of Madness The nurse holds me suspended between earth and air. An old, dwarf man brings an empty syringe from the depths of his crimson cane and thrusts it into the nurse''s calf. The syringe fills with the nurse''s blood, and the blood inside the syringe begins to bubble. The bubbles insist on escaping, but the thorns inside the syringe puncture them one by one. The old man removes the needle from the nurse''s body. The nurse, angered by the needle''s pain, presses my hand in frustration, wanting to transfer the needle''s agony to me. I seize his hand. With claw-like nails, I scratch from the bottom of his short sleeve down to his ankle, and along with the purplish blood on his hand, tears also stream down my face. I don''t want to be here. The nurse''s heart is hairy with scratches on his hand. With a melodious "Ah!" he curses me and sends me away. Seeing the purplish blood, I become thirsty. I lick the warm blood on his hand from top to bottom like sipping a cool drink. I become absorbed in the scent of purplish blood. My heart craves more blood, but the taste of the blood on the nurse''s elevated toilet is not something I want to try again. The angry nurse lays me down on the bed. I get trapped in the whirlpool of the nurse''s eyes. The old man embeds his crimson cane in the nurse''s right side and spins it. He leans on the cane, waiting for the whirlpool in the nurse''s eyes to subside. I lose my consciousness. *** I lie stretched out on the bed, feeling like I''ve become thinner than before. Can the sun find pleasure in a gaunt soul? I exert pressure with my body onto the bed; I can''t sit up with the help of my hands. I remember my hands are gone! My hands never let me go! I let out a loud scream. The dwarf man says, "Scream as much as your heart desires. This room is made for people like you. The sound repeats in the ears of the wrongdoer, so they may suffer from their own screams. Ha! Scream again. We don''t stop anyone from screaming, and consider this an act of our kindness and generosity." It means he had been standing in the corner of the room all this time! He approaches near the bed. I see the face of the old man distinctly. With each scream, my mouth locks shut. My body convulses with each cry. It''s true! The louder I shout, an equal force from the small barred window on the opposite wall hurls itself towards my ear. It tickles my ear and makes my body shudder. With all my strength, I burst into laughter. The old man raises his eyebrows in bewilderment. Lost in thought for a moment, he approaches me shortly after. He brings the ballpoint pen from behind his back towards me, gently and meticulously drawing around the edges of my lips. As he finishes his work with the pen, he holds a mirror in his other hand, facing it towards me. A wide purple smile stretches across my face, reaching the corners behind my head, as if he intends to seal my mouth shut with each laugh. I throw myself into a fit of laughter. The old man continues the painted laughter down the back of my neck and sticks them together. He completely locks my mouth. He pulls out a syringe from his pocket and threatens, "One more time, just once... I''ll make up for your misdeed." He laughs. Standing on the bedside, he releases his right foot from above onto my body. He laughs and says, "The color of your lips matches the color of my shoes; how beautiful! It has enhanced your face, my dear! We have many ways to entertain you here." He lifts his foot. His rabbit-like hair falls onto my face. He says, "I show interest in the hair of the girls I like. You also have a beautiful tall Wigs on your head. It can be useful for me." "My entire buttocks are swollen. What did you do to me under anesthesia?" "It''s not my problem... I can only hear your words." "I''m complaining against you! You''ve amputated my hands! Who will wipe my tears now? What should I do with the tickling in my nostrils with the feather? Huh? From now on, the liquid in my nose will form waves, drowning all the carefully nurtured hairs! And all because of you! You''re detestable!" Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. "You should be happy if they drown. No hair will remain for your tickling pleasure, except the bothersome presence of yourself. If they don''t drown, we''ll incinerate your body waste here. You can be happy about that too. Without pain, there won''t be nose hair for your tickling. There won''t be a place for Groulland." "How can you speak so callously about a body I''ve labored for years, my sole capital, like this? You...! What are you trying to do to me! How can I give any answer to the sun when it sees me like this?" "Each time, you destroy your body more than before, and now you claim ownership of it! It''s interesting. You''ve attempted suicide countless times. You''ve harmed yourself thousands of times, and now, with your actions, you''ve given us permission for any act. There''s no room for any argument. Did you think you could dirty the ground once again? The unfortunate sweeper has to carry the burden of your suicide once again?! If your suicide doesn''t reach an end, how many times must the unfortunate sweeper become the savior of people like you? Have you ever thought about how many sweeper have been soaked in your filthy blood? Do you know how many sweeper there have been? Has the sun passed over your work? What do you think to yourself? Have they given you the earth to bring it to this state? You must clean up, and I''ll clean your pocket, and the sun won''t scold you. You don''t have to worry." Enough! The responsibility of cleaning my blood off the pavement lies with the sweeper now. What burden do you have left? What do you know about Undertakers? Since when did someone like you become a savior for sweepers? You''ve created chaos in your building, and now you want to feel like you''re cleansing by setting others on fire? Who are you? Haven''t you heard? Blood attracts blood! Every time a sweeper cleans the self-destructive blood from the pavement or a person''s home, the tainted blood of individuals like you rises from the sweeper''s body, causing disarray in the sweeper''s blood and resulting in another suicide with even greater consequences. The sweeper, like you, commits suicide. With their death, they become a savior for others. With each sweeper''s suicide, their own impure blood goes to the grave with them. In that moment, where are you to protect the sweepers? Do you recover the souls of sweepers from destruction? Are you willing to, by replacing sweepers, bear the consequences of your mistakes? Can you cleanse the undesired sins of sweepers under the scrutiny of the Sun? And are you prepared to reclaim the souls of sweepers'' parents from destruction? Certainly not. So don''t speak of nonsense. The debate of mom and dad, leave me out of it! Are you also willing to be the same traitor in the future as you are today? Someone rejected by both Undertakers and ordinary people! Someone who thinks they''re showing kindness to ordinary people and, in their treatment facility, comes to account for sweepers. I dreamed that you couldn''t die. I heard your song from my parents. You were and are a companion to the Sun; however, it''s funny, you''re a forgotten mouse now! Someone who can''t reach the sun and someone who is incapable of suicide! Choke... on it. I am fully aware of my own life. You are not worthy to criticize me. Here, we, the nurses and I, have taken on the responsibility of cleansing your minds. If the mind is cleansed, the mind of the nation becomes pure and clean! Although your impure mind is exempt from this part and still wallows in filth. Understand, the purification of the mind can be as painful and difficult as cleansing it from impurities. I am a follower of the Sun. No, not a follower. I am in love with the Sun and am willing to sacrifice everything to reach it. Something that someone like you might call filthy and dirty! Do you understand what I mean? Suicide, I''m talking about! The old man takes the mirror in front of my face. There is no sign of a smile on my face. My lips are stitched. Instead of the laughter that he drew on my face, now my skin is stitched with purple threads. The stitches continue to the back of my head, and two invisible threads are left behind. The nurse enters the room. He pushes me onto my stomach and wants to inject several ampoules into my head. I cry and say, "I promise, I''ll listen to you. Please, please..." The old man says, "Right now, you won''t understand the favor we''re doing for you. You''ll find solace!" He firmly holds the dangling threads behind my head in his hands. My mouth is closed, and he doesn''t allow the threads to loosen until the ampoules are injected, and I''m forced into sleep. to be continued... Solar Ascension: Worm with Freckled Green After indulging in a bowl of mud, I follow the enchanting melody, leading me to a room illuminated by various lights, adorned with vibrant worms. Among them, my Wig stands out. A synchronized group of six worms dances above, tapping their tails playfully on their heads. The surrounding worms scatter light, turning the room into a kaleidoscope of colors. The green worm stands out among the spectators. Our eyes meet, and from a distance, it gracefully bows to me. I approach the green worm, requesting it to lower its head for me to mount. With a satisfied nod, it complies, and I stand proudly on its back. I exclaim, "What''s the music here? I desire royal tunes, music of majesty and grandeur. And I grant you permission to dance around your king!" The group of six worms exchange glances, tails swaying in anticipation, and in unison, they cheer, "Hooray!" Forming a ring around me, they toss the king into the air with heads held high. I command a gentle descent. The six worms spin around me, leaping to the rhythm. They lift my tail and toss me into the golden cage at the room''s center. Their muffled words envelop me as they spin the cage. I playfully tap the other worms'' heads with my tail through the bars. I sense the sun''s rotation within the golden cage. Four worms, holding the cage like a fork, place it against their noses and spin it. I grab a cage bar tightly to avoid being thrown off. A cry of pain echoes as one worm''s seam opens, spilling blood onto the others. Amid their exuberance, they smear the bloodied one against the floor. I fall to the ground from the tips of the worms'' noses, landing in a corner. *** I wake up to the loudspeaker announcing, "Get ready to take the capsules." The sun rotates around my head. Leaving the room is the last thing I desire. I have no intention of consuming those capsules. They don''t bring a good feeling. Yesterday, I witnessed the capsules bringing pain and tremors to the worms'' bodies. With those capsules, the old man knows the havoc he''s wreaking upon the worms! "Sir, I await your permission for a meeting with you." "Enter the room. You shouldn''t be here. Why are your scales tightly coiled?" "It''s nothing, my lord! Whatever comes from my king is welcome! I just wanted to guide you for the capsule ceremony." "I don''t understand what you''re saying! And you shouldn''t have accompanied me! Go and don''t tell anyone I''m here." "All these actions are for your well-being, my lord." "I command you to leave. Go quickly before anyone notices. If someone finds out, I''ll punish you." "I''m nervous. How will I defend myself if they come after me? Shortly after the departure of the green light worm, both nurses enter the room." "One of the nurses says, ''If you don''t come willingly, we''ll have to inject this syringe forcibly and take you away. Make your decision.''" I curl up on the bed and hide my face. "One of the nurses says, ''It''s your fault... open your mouth. I''ll administer the syringe.''" "One of the nurses tries to approach. I pull the surroundings under my tail, creating a circle around the nurse''s neck. I''m not sure when the other nurse went to the other bed. She presses my head against her arm, and my tail is released from around the first nurse''s neck. The first nurse takes the vile syringe from the other and administers it until the last drop on my tongue, then releases me. I gradually become numb. I see and feel everything, but I can''t move myself. One of the nurses places me on her shoulders. From the corridor, we walk straight into the preparation hall for capsule consumption. The creams are lined up in four rows of three. In the first row, I''m placed, without a cream on either side, on one of the squares on the floor. The light brightens under my body. I''m the first to be given the capsule. A nurse in a short-sleeved white gown stands in front of me. The wound on her hand from my bite has healed but not completely. Two nurses open my mouth, and one of them inserts the capsule all the way down my throat. The nurses tilt my head completely upright for the capsule to enter my body. The injured nurse says, ''You''re the first this time! Your procedure takes longer than others, and you surely tire us out.''" Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! My eyes widen and fixate. It''s as if light is shocking into my body, and my entire frame trembles. The floor slips away between my scales. The numbness in my body becomes faint. Clinging to the pain, I press against the floor, and the injured nurse inserts a thorny rod into my mouth. As the thorns hit my mouth, I''m forced to exert all my effort to open my mouth as much as I can, and they forcefully extract the capsule from my body. Both nurses give capsules to each worm, standing until the last moment above each worm to record the results of the capsule. A chilling scream echoes from a terrified worm. From the scream, a piece of yellowed wall plaster falls onto the heads of the worms and nurses. The injured nurse asks, "Whose scream was that?" Another nurse points to Freckle green worm and says, "In the end, this worm returned his oil. Now what should we do?" With the progress he had made, it was time. They had long requested a new priest. Okay, we quickly move on to the rest of the worms. Then, we''ll attend to him. "Priest!" I look at the Freckle green worm from a distance. He is completely out of control and unaware of his surroundings. He has oil sprayed everywhere. The injured nurse takes the capsules from another nurse and heads towards the old man''s room. The old man''s room is opposite the capsule consumption hall. Amidst the cries and writhing of the worms, I can''t understand what the purple-shoed nurse is saying to the other nurse from the floor! I rise from the floor. All the worms have already stood up faster than their usual pace . I head towards the old woman''s room. The old woman''s room is next to the old man''s room with purple shoes. The old woman just wants to sleep. "I have a question. Please rest a bit later." "It must be about that worm that returned the oil, right?" "Exactly! The nurse was saying something about a priest! Did I hear it correctly? What does it mean?" "You ask from an appropriate person, but it''s always intrusive. Here, in these five years, anyone who had these questions would come to me. I still couldn''t make a worm priest after five years. I think the weaker someone is, the sooner they become a worm priest. But that cream responded to becoming spiritual after a year. All these procedures and capsules they give you here are not for your health; they are for your enlightenment. I mean, if they care about your health, it''s for your enlightenment. Do you understand? You have to understand; I won''t repeat it. Everyone who is willing to commit suicide for the sake of the sun brings them here as salvation from death. After that, when the capsules head toward construction and obtain their specific light, they go to the next stage! If, like that worm, one becomes completely oil-sprayed and loses oneself, it means they go to the stage of becoming a worm priest. You have to oil-spray your entire body to make sure you''ve erased yourself and become fully prepared to invite people to the sun. In these five years, I''ve seen creams that, when they went down from those stairs at the end of the hall to the nurse''s little room, never came back. Or if they came back, they came with dazzling light. The nurse skewers the freckled worm on a pole and places it in the center of the half-column. The worm has turned vertical. The nurse, with an iron protective mask on her face, heats the column with a blowtorch. The eyes of the macchiato-colored worm open wide, flooding the room with even more intense light than before. I lose control of myself, drawn towards the light like a dog wagging its tail upon seeing its owner. I want the sun to see me. The nurse with the wound places her foot on my tail, and I can''t descend the brick room''s stairs. She says, "This time, your punishment is inevitable." She crushes my tail under her foot. The old man tells the nurse, "Leave it. Let him be curious. Perhaps witnessing this scene will curb his rebelliousness. Your grandfather was overjoyed when he learned we are willing to save you and guide you towards your desires and the sun." The nurse with the wound drags me by the front of the staircase. Another nurse, along with the worm, comes up with a pulled pole. The green worm still has light. I am pulled towards the green worm with pressure. I fall under the nurse''s foot, and green light emanates from me. The green light of the worm becomes weaker than before. The nurse pushes the green worm away from me. The man with purple shoes jumps up and down in joy, clapping his hands. The old man''s actions confuse me. The more I look at him, the more I realize he is different from the others. He says, "He is an astonishing specimen. He absorbs light from others and radiates it to himself. Please remove your foot from this peculiar specimen. Today is such a joyful day! We have a worm priest and a newly discovered specimen!" He casually pulls my purple shoes off my gray hat, chuckles, and leaves. I can''t feel anything good. to be continued... The Covenant of the Worm Girl with the Dwarf "Wake up! The painting and coloring set you wanted. Mr. Doctor insisted on giving it to you sooner." I see the nurse above me. "Mr. Doctor? They call someone who takes humanity from others a doctor! Is Purple Shoes always this kind, or has he delved into kindness himself?" - Enough talk. I''ll put the things you wanted on the bed. - Nurse, don''t go. I have a question. How long have you and the other nurse been here? - I think it''s been a few hundred years. - So why do you look like that, as if you haven''t aged? Is Purple Shoes always this kind? - Don''t ask more questions. I''ll put the things you wanted on the bed. It seems that the question brings back painful memories; she becomes upset and leaves the room with sorrow. Since the old man witnessed my luminous transformation, he''s been eager to provide whatever I ask for. I don''t know what dream he''s had for me! Even according to my request, he has put curtains on the two doors of my rooms. I push aside the blanket and flip through the pages of my notebook with my tail. Before coming here, I had a sketchbook where I drew all sizes of the sun next to my grandmother. A grandmother I didn''t know where or what she looked like. No one told me about her. Only once did my grandfather say that she left us to get closer to the sun. Now the old man has taken the trouble to bring my sketchbook from our home. I become more suspicious of his actions with every moment. "Get ready to take the capsules." I''ve made my decision. I won''t go through the forced ingestion of capsules and injections anymore. I step outside the room and sense the place where the freckled green worm used to be. Since the absence of the freckled green worm, I absorb more light each day. Like the others, I don''t emit light myself, but when other worms are radiant, I absorb a bit of their light, each time more than the previous one. By expelling the capsule sooner from my body, I redirect the light back to them. I see the old woman from a distance, moving slowly and weakly. As she notices me, she lowers her head. After my capsule is out, I enter her room from behind. She turns towards me. The old woman says, "What? Have you come to take my life? What are you waiting for?" - Why would I take your life? - Every day I see it. You don''t have your own light! You become radiant with our light. If they don''t remove the capsule from you, you might understand that we''ll lose our light after all the effort we put into illuminating it. I''ve been trapped in this madhouse for five years and haven''t been outside. You''ve come in five days, wanting to take all my light! You''re a traitor! Someone like you might even take the place of the sun. If you want to absorb its light, if... - I never do the things you say. - They control you with the capsules now! - I won''t do this. But why don''t you help me instead of scolding me? - The only way for you is suicide. You have to do it before it''s too late. You have to do it as soon as possible. If you reach a point where they make you a priest, they''ll eliminate your suicidal tendencies with an injection. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. - Commit suicide here? If I could, I would have done it without a doubt. The sun moans in my dreams every night. - There is a way. But not now. You have to be patient. One of the worms has recently started oiling. When they take it to the brick room, go behind them. When the sun above the half-column lights up, get closer and absorb all its light. - I''m weak for this. I can''t absorb all its light. - The weaker, the better. Your body can''t endure it, and you''ll die. Unless you don''t want this! - I''m not very sure about what you''re saying. But it seems to be the only way. But if you''re right, and if I become the one who kills the sun, I have to commit suicide in any way possible. The pink worm is completely ready to reach the priest stage. They take him to the room below behind the nurse, just as the old woman said. Secretly, I go behind them, and as the sunlight surrounds the column, I close my eyes. The pink worm starts to illuminate. The light is absorbed into me, and I feel like I''m catching fire. I want to explode. I close my eyes. I don''t know why the laughter of the purple shoe is in my ears! - You are miraculous. You''ve absorbed all the light, even the sunlight above the column. Look around you. - It seems the purple shoe is talking to me. I glance around the brick room. The worm impaled on the skewer doesn''t emit any light. His flesh remains motionless. - You managed to absorb all the light. Our method brought you to the result faster than the capsules. Bring a mirror for them. - The nurse hands me a mirror. My entire body is burning with pink light. - Does this mean I''m alive? I shouldn''t be alive! Why isn''t the pink worm moving? - Yes, you are alive. You were born to kill, not to be killed! That worm was born to be killed. Can you imagine that? It''s astonishing. - I came here for love of the sun, not for killing. I bang my head against the column repeatedly. The purple shoe grabs the end of my tail and wraps around its red staff. We ascend towards the upper floor. The floor releases me. The worms, upon seeing my light, are drawn to me, approaching with reverence. The old woman gazes at me from inside her room. I lose control; I close my eyes and begin absorbing their light. Nurses keep me away from the worms and take me to the room with the purple shoe. The dwarf man with a ring around his wrist plays with it, resembling a bracelet. He tells the nurses to leave. - Listen carefully. You must always wear this ring from now on. And for a few more days, you must stay in this building until you have complete control over absorbing and expelling the light of others. You saw for yourself today that the capsules are not powerful for you. You need to practice absorbing and expelling light through the control of capsules and the ring for a few days. The ring will always be with you. And if you absorb or expel light against my instructions, I can control you with the ring. I will take care of you and won''t let you escape from control. The most important part is that when you can have control over yourself, you will be sent to A religious and trapezoidal building. There you will see the priest worms with various lights. They all worship the sun and preach the sun, attracting sun worshippers. You have to absorb the light of worms that suicide tendency has intensified in them. - I heard you''re doing things that no one would want to commit suicide. So, how is it possible for someone to become self-destructive and take their own life? - Sometimes the desire for suicide becomes stronger from the power within their own bodies. Another point about your responsibility, you cannot prevent suicidal people; you can only deal with the self-destructive worms. Suicidal individuals have no light of their own, and you can control them by absorbing light. - I have a condition too, and that is I won''t kill anyone. - You''re still very young, and everything seems grand in your mind. Perhaps you think the face worm is dead! That pink worm is not dead. With your power, you can capture the light of the self-destructive worms and render them unconscious. I''ll send a worm with you to bring back the worms whose light has been absorbed here. What is your answer? I remain silent. The dwarf spins the ring around his finger and approaches me, saying, "I know you''ve accepted it." He takes off the ring and holds up the end of my tail. Contrary to the direction of the scales on my tail, he slides the ring off. It hurts at first. I look at him, and the golden glow of the ring lights up my eyes. I crawl out with difficulty, and the weight of the ring has slowed me down. The time to prepare for the capsules, the nurse asks me to stay inside my room. One of the lights from the square floor behind the nurse enters my room. I stretch, and the capsule is placed inside me. It hurts a lot. It''s stronger and more painful than the previous shocks because the golden ring around my tail has intensified the capsule''s shock. Tears overwhelm me. I have a little seizure. I see myself forcefully opening my parents'' mouths, tears streaming down my face, and putting a spoonful of food in their mouths. An eerie light comes from behind me. It''s the photographer''s camera light, but I only see the photographer''s tail. After the capsule shock and the ring to my body, I don''t have the strength to get up. The nurse enters the room with red headphones and The tall-handled broom stood. With each turn around herself, water and broom spill across the room. The pulling and twisting of her legs are synchronized. A whisper from the nurse''s headphones comes out. The whisper of the death dream. I look at the room''s ceiling. It''s a cemetery. All the worms stand like statues on their coffins. The worms steal their flight dreams in the air and imprison them in a carriage. They let go of the carriage, and in the embrace of the dream, they whisper the dream of death, and the worms whisper the dream of death more in their hiddenness. The worms release the carriage and whisper death in the arms of the dream, and the carriage stops moving. "Why are you hitting? Put the broom aside." The nurse says, "I''m telling you where to put the food; you don''t understand for two hours. I''m telling you, you have to eat your food here. Come on, say it. Will you eat on the floor or the bed?" I weakly say on the bed. She puts the food down and leaves. to be continued... A Tale of Loss and the sacrificed Pillars Today, I attain a complete mastery over myself compared to yesterday. The nurses depart, leaving me alone in the room, surrounded by pain. An old man in purple shoes stands above me, declaring, "Today, you''ve gained control. The time to leave has come. Let me introduce you to your colleague. The one I spoke about, they''re here." An old woman emerges from behind. I become furious. I tell the old man, "Go bring someone else. I won''t go anywhere with her. She''s deceitful, a liar." "I know she lied to you. It was her mission, and you have to understand that. We had to assess your capabilities. If we had asked you directly, given your stubborn nature, you probably wouldn''t have accepted." "She shouldn''t have lied. I trusted the old woman, and she deceived me with malice." No one responds. I raise my head; I see only the old woman. The old man is gone. "I didn''t want to betray you. I wanted to go outside. I''ve been stuck here for five years, and you don''t understand what you''re putting me through! Don''t be selfish. The old man told me that if I did this, he would send me out with you. My lie, don''t make it messy for yourself or anyone else." "I can''t trust anyone. I can''t trust you. I thought you were telling the truth. Does that mean all your words were lies?!" The old woman angrily taps her tail on my face and says, "Say whatever you want, but make sure you understand what you''re saying! We''re supposed to leave together. You shouldn''t distance yourself from me; otherwise, I''ll have to inform that old man that the lost child is gone." "You can''t reach me with this old age. Why do you have to be with me?" "Because in my weak light, I''m the only one who can bring you back if you lose control beside you, and I won''t pass out. And I haven''t lived all this life to have you, a careless child, constantly reminding me of my age." I''m afraid to say anything against her will, fearing another strike of her tail on my face. It''s clear the old woman can''t contain her joy of leaving this place. She says, "Gather your belongings. We''ll leave after lunch." I have lunch in the room. A nurse comes with a large needle. She injects the needle into my tongue until the last drop. Tears well up in my eyes. For me, she wraps a thin, multicolored shawl with a large sun emblem. We go to the brick room. The old woman and I stand on half pillars. The dwarf with his red-tipped staff spins the sun hanging from the ceiling. The pillar descends. As it descends, the dwarf hits me on the head with his staff and says, "I''m watching you. I don''t expect you to disobey my orders." The column reaches the bottom, reaching the parking lot. Six cars with sun emblems on their roofs are in the parking lot. A man is standing in front of one of the cars, opening the door for us. The car goes up the parking slope. I can''t discern the time of day. The air is thick, and some people have taken electric umbrellas in their hands. I raise my head from the window and look behind us. I see the madhouse, rotating with a large sun on its roof. I pull my head inside the car. The old woman beside me constantly takes deep breaths out of excitement. I hope she survives until the destination. The car stops at the red light. Some people, upon seeing us, stand in front of the car and constantly bow. We arrive at a building with trapezius shape. The driver opens the door, and we step onto the red carpet in front of the building. We climb up numerous white steps on the building and reach a smooth surface. The red carpet moves directly and takes us inside the building. We reach our destination. On the sign to our left, it says, "Please refrain from crossing over the red carpet." Inside the trapezius building, it''s filled with various shapes of suns. I notice two beings with red light on both sides of the red carpet. Everything is new to me. A lively seventy-eight-year-old worm welcomes us. The rest of the worms are constantly moving and don''t pay attention to us. He greets the old woman and tells me, "Your arrival has been announced to us." My attention is all around. Inside the building, there is a ground floor as vast as a multi-hectare agricultural field. "What are those adhered cocoons to the ceiling?" "Those are individuals who have devoted themselves to worshiping the sun in this sacred place. When they feel it''s time for their sacrifice, we prepare them for sacrifice. They are bandaged and will be suspended from the ceiling for a while." "How do they become sacrifices?" "Through rebirth. They become new priest worms." "In what ways can one become a priest worm?" "In two ways: one through the method they used on you and brought you to us, and the other through the cocoon." "That cocoon is very small, isn''t it?" "Yes, he''s a seven-year-old child. He''s brought here with his family for sacrifice. Unfortunately, we''re not prepared to pillar all of them. We lack the speed and space." "In the one or two weeks I''ve been inside the madhouse, many things have changed. The air has become grayer, and the sun worshipers have increased." "Please step aside for the service worms." Two worms with blue light each carry part of the cocoon on their heads. The cocoon resembles a carpet, placed on the heads of the two worms. The manager worm asks us to follow him. We go to a corner of the building, and he says, "We give a mat to everyone, and here we sleep together. During meal times, a metal table is brought to the center of the building. If there''s anything you need, I''m at your service. I have to attend to overdue tasks; I''ll be excused from your service." Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. "I have another question. What should we do now? What are the others doing?" The old woman looks at me and says, "It''s obvious. We need to rest. This youngster hasn''t thought about it." The manager worm tells me, "It''s a valid question. We''ve divided the worms based on the color of their light. Those with blue light, like the ones you saw doing transport services. The red light has the duty of guiding the people. Yellow light is responsible for cleaning the hall floor, and purple light is in charge of cleaning the toilets and bathrooms." The old woman quickly says, "I can''t do these tasks. Why do the purple lights have a harder job?" "Don''t worry. We have been told you have to stay with this young worm all the time. The other lights, the black light, which is only me, manages, and the white lights are responsible for pilling the people. The pink light talks to people who want to be sacrificed and prepares their minds. The green light encourages people inside the city toward the sun, and the orange light gathers people around the green light in the city and collaborates with it. Those with brown lights deal with the media here. The Sun Press building is behind this building. We don''t have another light here. And about you, it''s been said that you have a unique duty and shouldn''t be disturbed. We need someone like you. The number of self-destructives is increasing, and sometimes some of the victims inside the pillar, whose sacrificial period is not complete yet, come out of the cocoon, and the traces of suicide accompany them. Not only among the victims but also among the worms that come from the madhouse, sometimes there are worms who commit suicide again. And they may infect others. We really need someone like you." The manager worm proceeds with his duties. The old woman says, "I want to go back to the madhouse, to my room. I want to sleep on my bed, not on the floor and among the others." "The time for the arrival of the Sun Worshipers has come. Quickly arrange the benches in rows and let everyone take their place," the manager''s voice echoes through the hand-held microphone and repeats. The first worshiper of the sun, Carpet brings him inside. He approaches each worm, making a long-lasting reverence. Worms with red light guide him towards the benches. He sits in the front row and clasps his hands together. Lowering his head, he sways his body from side to side. "I get tired from seeing this gathering and commotion. They are very exhausting." the old woman says. "Old woman, if you weren''t lying, you wouldn''t be suffering right now!" She tightens her lips and heads inside. All the wrinkles around her lips come out. In the middle of the hall, she straightens her neck with authority and stands up. As everyone enters, they also pay homage to her. The manager takes the stage, facing the people. He says, "Today is the time; we should split one of the cocoons and tie the next sacrifice with the cocoon. This cocoon has been festering for three days, and now the time for its fruition has come." Excitement fills the air as people eagerly join hands. Worms with white light eagerly crawl up the bars to reach the cocoon. The building has no roof, only barsfor connecting the pillars. They loosen the smallest knot of the pillar and slowly lower it down, reaching the stage. Another worm with white light, who is down and on the stage, grabs the the cocoons and pushes the bodies aside with the tail of the cocoon. The seven-year-old boy opens his eyes and shakes his tail. A worm with dim light like the old woman emerges. People stand up with excitement and applaud the young worm. The manager insists they maintain their composure. "He steps onto the stage, grasping the handheld microphone in front of his mouth and says: "The Sun has accepted its sacrifice. From now on, we recognize him as the Sun priest worm." "All the people clap their hands vigorously, tears streaming down their faces. The manager declares, ''Today, we bring a new sacrifice into the cocoon. A vacant spot has been found. He will join us on stage." I move closer to the stage. An elderly man steps onto the platform. It''s him! My grandfather! I scream in the commotion, but he doesn''t hear. I rush onto the stage. He embraces me tightly. In his ear, I whisper, "Why did you send me to madhouse? Why?" Grandfather said: "It''s better for you. I wanted what''s best for you. I didn''t want to lose you, and I couldn''t take care of you. I was afraid of losing you. When you were in the madhouse, they brought the news of your grandmother''s death. They gave me a letter from her. She had sent me a letter after years. She asked me to follow in her footsteps and sacrifice myself in the path of the sun so that we could see each other again after death. I love your grandmother, and I can''t bear the distance from her anymore." "But by sending me to that madhouse, you lost me. It doesn''t matter to you, does it? Even though everything is in the past now. You can go on living the rest of your life, free from the burden of a dead man." "I''ve always loved you and still do. Your grandmother, when you came into this world, went ahead of us all to reach the sun. She thought that with your arrival, I would feel less alone. She was right, but no one could take her place for me. I''m sorry. I didn''t want to disappoint you. My dear grandchild, I..." The manager tries to pull my tail with his tail. He says, "Talking is enough. He is a sacrifice, and a sacrifice won''t have acquaintances after entering the cocoon, just like the priest essence of the sun has no acquaintances. From now on, you should know him as a priest cocoon." I say "I won''t allow you to do this with my grandfather. grandfather shouldn''t...!" Two red worms take me away from the scene. elderly woman expresses gratitude for the red robes and says "she will take care of herself." She wraps her entire body around me and doesn''t allow any movement. My tears fall on the elderly woman''s body. I try to capture the light of the elderly woman, but I can''t. She say "By the way, I didn''t tell you. Aside from the dim light, I have a necklace, with which I can fend off a child like you effortlessly! That old man gave it to me. Did you think he would let you go so easily to do whatever you pleased?" I say "Stop. If they send my grandfather up there, they''ll take him away from me. I have no one else. I beg you." "No one has anyone. All these creatures you see have no memory of where they came from or what they were! They only know the sun. Only you and I know who we were. Because the capsule didn''t work. Whether those who became worm with the madhouse capsule or those with the cocoons here, they all go into oblivion. Your grandfather is going among them. I wanted to forget too, but there is torment I must endure!" I pull myself out from his body; the old woman''s words are not finished. I step onto the stage. It''s too late. My grandfather is above me. They are lifting him up. His head is out of the cocoon. He swallows a capsule and looks down. He sends me a kiss and says, "To the health of the sunlight in you and in me!" I want to shake my tail. The recently anointed worm child wraps his tail around mine and says, "It''s too crowded here. I can''t sleep." As tears fall, laughter captures me. I imagine everyone in the hall laughing. I lift my head, facing the people, seeing all the people and worms in a state of reverence and prayer. No one pays attention to me. The manager and other worms are warm with prayer. I stretch out beside the worm child away from the hall benches and enjoy the silence of the building. to be continued... Fragments of a Stolen Identity I can''t recall when my dreams took me away. The old woman says, "Yesterday, after lifting the sacrifice, everyone was applauding the sun together. It felt like the sun was revolving around them. Perhaps today you can witness that moment. You''ve been asleep since yesterday when I put the necklace around your neck. The old man gave me a powerful ampule for you. I administered the ampule to you. Whatever it was, it was very potent. It worked wonders for you." - Are you lying? Was I asleep all this time? I''ll... kill you! - You can''t. - Maybe not like that, but... I retaliated with a forceful slap, leaving her wrinkled face unbalanced. At first, anger flashes across her face. The old woman rises and says, "I''ll get my revenge during your sleep. I''ll make sure you sleep for the rest of your life, you lazy child! Whenever you''re ready to go anywhere, let''s go. I''m tired of this. I''ve taken care of your breakfast. Come eat, let''s go. While you were asleep, I looked around. That door you see leads to the media building. Today, we can start by looking over there." We step into the newspaper building. The entire structure is shrouded in darkness. Coffee-colored lights are soaring, preparing the newspapers. We make our way inside completely, and all the coffee worms have gathered in a circle. Their bodies coil like springs, launching them upwards. It seems like no one notices us. The newspaper building has two doors¡ªone leading to the solar building and the other to the outside of the solar newspaper. We enter the city with the old woman through the newspaper door. Nevertheless, the faint light from the old woman subtly alters the situation. A worm with a green glow stands in the center of the small square across from the radiant building, while another worm with an orange glow invites everyone to the square. Anyone accepting the invitation steps closer to the square, mesmerized by the radiant glow of the worms. The orange worm moves alongside, and the joy of the people intensifies. The green-lit worm speaks, "We bring you together to show that the sun belongs to all of us. We don''t want to selfishly exploit the sun. You can join the Solar Society. And through worship, seek strength from it..." He has no new words to say. People, more captivated by his luminous green, connect with each other rather than paying attention to his words. On the sidewalk, a child are selling newspapers marked with the symbol of the sun. I ask the child, "Why do you sell newspapers? Doesn''t everyone have for sale?" He quickly pays respect to both me and the old woman. He says, "I swear, I''m doing my best to sell well. Did I make a mistake? Why should someone else sell instead of me?" - I meant, why shouldn''t the priests sell themselves? - Their heads are too busy. Even if they want to sell themselves, no one allows them to take a step towards it. Everyone is eager to help them. And besides, why not sell! I sell all the newspapers. They pay me a good salary. The old woman says, "Leave this kid alone. He likes selling. What''s it to you? Come on, let''s go." - I ask for a newspaper one day. The child hands it over and says, "It''s yours." I lay the newspaper on the ground and, by twisting my body around a nearby pole, turn my back to the newspaper. Since leaving the madhouse, many aspects of me have become like other worms, but my love for the sun hasn''t diminished, and I no longer have the patience to stand on my tail. I crawl like the rest. I don''t read all the headlines. One headline grabs my attention. The front page is filled with bold letters: "Pollution and Death of the sweepers Still Prevail." I read the entire news page. The summary urges people to join the sun worshippers. Until everyone purifies themselves through sun worship, the self-destructive spreaders continue to shed their tainted blood, leading to unintentional suicides of the pure sweepers. As a result, our brightness diminishes, and we move towards darkness. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. I ponder: "Why should those who want to commit suicide have their blood tainted? Why should pollution dominate it?" The old woman picks up my newspaper with her mouth and tosses it into the garbage bin. She says, "I''m tired. Let''s move." I find myself getting used to the old woman''s routines. If there was a more interesting story in the newspaper that I hadn''t read, I would surely slam my tail against my face again. The old woman stands by the street, close to the newspaper vendor, waiting for a car. I ask, "Do you have money?" "No, I don''t. I have respect," she replies. A car with a sun symbol pulls up in front of us. The old woman can''t believe we''ve become important. The driver sees her excitement in the rearview mirror and says, "These cars are for you esteemed priests. We are at your service every hour of the day." I give him the address of my old neighborhood. We get in, and he says, "If you need to stand on top of a building, the first sun-labeled car nearby will see your light and come for you." Seeing the old neighborhood brings a sense of calm. All of its people are sweepers. They all live in metal houses resembling one another. As we move deeper into the narrow streets, we distance ourselves from the car commotion. The metal houses on either side of the street get closer. It seems behind the metal walls, no one lives except darkness. Sometimes, I catch a glimpse of the whiteness of unfamiliar eyes from the openings of the metal houses. The old woman says, "You had to bring me to such a terrifying and filthy place?" - Whatever you want to call this neighborhood, except for filthy! This is the home of those who sacrifice their lives for cleanliness. - Alright, I get it. You''re clean. The sound of footsteps echoes from the metal. I look inside one of the houses through a hole and see someone wandering around. I feel like I know this person. I crawl inside the hole and follow him. As he notices me behind him, he quickens his pace. He climbs up two pipes attached to the wall and reaches the back of the roof of the fourth floor. I coil around the pipes and climb up. He tries to keep his face hidden. He reaches the edge of the building and jumps onto another building using a rope. I get close to the edge. I shout: "I don''t care about you. Why are you running away?" - You and the others caused so much trouble for us. Is there anything left that you haven''t done? - What have I done? I wasn''t there... I didn''t do anything. - Don''t play dumb. - What do I need to know that I don''t know? I''m just like one of you. - You''re one of them. Ruthless priests! You damn lot are so merciless. The old woman reaches the rooftop and says, "What''s going on here?" The fugitive enters a small room on the roof, and from there, he talks to me. The darkness of the room prevents me from seeing his face. I tell him, "I grew up right here. My parents were sweepers." The old woman says, "Who are you talking to?" "You''re lying. A sweeper can never become a priest. You''re not one of us." - I was forced into this form of a worm. I didn''t want to. Believe me. Otherwise, why would I come here? - The worms are just trying to deceive us." - Why would I come here? "Means you don''t know? Go ask your friends. They take sweepers to die. They kill sweepers, and only I know this. No one here believes it. But I''ve seen it myself." I am shocked. I can''t find words to speak. I don''t know if I should believe her. He continues. "I saw it myself. I was holding a pot of food. I was looking for my mom and dad to have a meal together. A few worms with long cloaks, no light! Their light was hidden under black cloaks! They threw the worm in the middle of the street from the top of a building. From behind a broken wall, I saw everything. We always came behind that wall to eat our food. My mom and dad heard the sound of the fall and saw the dead man. From a distance, I see my parents! They savagely rush towards the dead man and focus on licking the blood on his body and the asphalt. From behind the wall, I don''t come out because I''m scared. I don''t show myself until their job is done. With blood on their clothes and inside their mouths, they go up to the top of a building where the cloaked worms were before. I come out from behind the wall into the middle of the street with the pot in my hand. Both of them fall in front of my feet from the top of the building. No one else is around them. I don''t know what to do! I approach them, throw the spoon into their mouths, and leave the empty pot in front of their eyes. My tears have run dry. I remember. I remember it was me in that moment. How could I forget? When my mom and dad died or when the cloaked worms were on top of the building. I remember. When the dwarf came after me, I looked out of the metal hole of our house with fear and asked for help from the sun. I hear a noise and run towards the top of the building. I haven''t reached the edge of the building yet when the dwarf grabs my hand and puts me to sleep with an injection. A poignant reminder drives me insane. I shout with a loud and mad voice, ''I will kill them all. I will kill them all.'' The old woman asks, "Whose life do you want to take?" - I''ll kill you too. I''ll kill all of you. I glance at the little room across the street and scream, "I''ll kill you too!" The old woman approaches me and slowly encircles herself around me. She injects me with her needles, and I feel like I can''t see anything." to be continued...