LivingLiterature

The destruction of the October War and its aftermath had claimed the lives of over sixteen million French citizens, six million of whom perished in the destruction of Paris. Lyon, Marseilles, Nice and other major settlements had been outright destroyed alongside major military bases such as Brest naval arsenal. The largest surviving city proved to be Bordeaux, although the town had suffered heavy damage from a megaton-range detonation fifteen miles offshore. By early 1966, exploring parties from the UK, Ireland, Spain and Italy had effectively liberated the country from any remaining criminal bands and Soviet-backed fiefdoms, with attention turning to how to provide for and govern the 31 million surviving Frenchmen. It was determined by the European allies that the Fifth Republic constitution would provide the best way forward, albeit one with a few tweaks. Bordeaux would be the seat of government until such time that reconstruction and decontamination of Paris could allow governance

There is an old adage that you can always judge a man by the quality of his enemies. This is not something that has ever vibed with Milkman. After all, idiocy attracts idiocy. Just look at politics, for fuck’s sake. A truly great hero would fight dangerous villains, not random people he meets in the street and assumes are actually supervillains despite all evidence to the contrary. As a point of fact, Milkman has spent more time than is possibly healthy wondering why his own personal rogues’ gallery consists of a single deranged performance artist, the former special adviser to Boris Johnson and his own social worker; yet not for one second entertaining the idea that, as the common denominator, he could be the problem. The story that follows illustrates this. For it was in The Year After The Year After The Year of The Three Prime Ministers that Milkman found himself locked in a multi-storey car park, armed with nothing but his wits, while facing a terrifying hoard of weirdness. The

Ooh, the blue of the morning sky, so smooth and sweet, so pure and true Cric-crac, croon the agreeable birds, Oo-oo-oo, ah! The sunshine light on the day, Oo-oo-oo, ah! The river is running clean and cool Oo-oo-oo, ah! The lake glistens in the morning light so smooth and silky, no crease, no wrinkle The leaves dance in a gentle sway in tune with the birds, to whom they sing Ripples on the cool water edges Oo-oo-oo, ah! The song of the river can be heard Oo-oo-oo, ah! The steps of my feet make the path rhythmically like a snare drum in a blues change My thoughts drift and spin 'round and 'round like a graceful spinning top The long leg strides step on the stone, pounding out a tune for me And by evening, I can feel the soft sun rays on my cheek, the cool water on my toe, the winds gently caressing my hair As the smell of jasmine pervades the air and stars begin to glimmer out of the night sky, I look up and smile, with my teeth glistening bright as the ending words of the day

Most people remember Foster's Home Imaginary Friends for being an upbeat cartoon that exemplified childhood creativity. What very few of them realize is that the entire show is based on a fabrication, a childhood that was never meant to be. The original Mac was an incredibly lonely child who had to deal with the sudden divorce of his parents. With an abusive older brother, an absent dad, and a workaholic mom, Mac didn't have anyone to turn to. It was only natural he ended up making an imaginary friend, a friend named Bloo. This is where Mac's life diverges from the one you know. Bloo was imaginary in the truest sense of the word. He could only be seen and heard by Mac. His mom, let's call her Lauren, didn't think much of it when she saw Mac talking to himself. It was normal for kids his age to have imaginary friends after all. She did however think it was strange when Mac still played with Bloo after he turned eight. She tried to gently explain to Mac that Bloo was just a figment of his mind, but Mac went hysterical as a result. He swore up and down that Bloo was a real person who was always by his side and even cried when his mom wouldn't believe him. She had to eventually drop the subject. Lauren resigned herself to the fact that Mac was possibly developing slower than other children and that bringing up the subject would only bring unnecessary stress. She told herself that Mac would grow out of this phase within due time. That was until the incidents started happening. One day before Mac returned home from school, Lauren banged her toe against a desk and cursed under her breath. When Mac finally returned, he ran up to her and said with childish glee that Bloo told him she said a bad word. He even described her toe hitting the desk. Lauren froze when she heard this. How could Mac have known something he wasn't a witness to? She told herself that Mac was just playing a weird joke on her and through some stroke of luck made a story that lined up with what happened. It sounded contrived, but it was the only way she could make sense of it. That was far from the only weird thing to happen in their home. Items would suddenly go missing and pop up in random places. She at first blamed it on Terrance since he was a perpetual troublemaker, but the incidents still persisted even when he wasn't home. Sometimes she'd hear the kitchen stool screech and find it where the misplaced items used to be. Lauren could even swear there were times it felt like someone was watching her even when she was home alone. The final straw happened when Mac was late coming home one day. It was a considerable amount of time past his usual arrival, but he was a no show. This naturally got Lauren anxious, so she drove to the school to see if Mac was still there. When the teacher told her that Mac had already left, her anxiety only grew. She went driving around the neighborhood, carefully scanning the area for her son. She combed through the area for half an hour and yet her son was nowhere to be found. Lauren was about to call 911 to report him missing until she heard a faint ping of his voice. She cocked her head to the left to see a decrepit mansion that looked like it  had been burned down in the past. Lauren gasped as she caught a brief image of Mac running past one of the upstairs windows. Her heart pulsed like an alarm bell, her legs took off running faster than her brain could process. Lauren slammed open the decrepit doors and screamed out for her dear son. " Mac!? Mac! Please come out!" The words came our more like a cough due to the heavy layer of dust in the air. Lauren wondered why in the hell would Mac be in a dreary place like this of all locations. She stomped up the rotting stairs and took off in the direction she saw Mac. The mansion held dozens upon dozens of different rooms, making the search for her son incredibly vexing. Each door she opened only revealed to Lauren rooms full of discarded toys and furniture. With an undeterred resolve only a worried mom could have, Lauren pressed onward until she saw... him. She finally found her son Mac...  at the bottom of a large hole in the floor, laying motionless on the ground! " OH GOD NO, MAC!!!!" Lauren screamed with so much intensity she was sure the entire neighborhood heard her. Dialing for an ambulance in one hand, she marched back down to the first floor to save Mac. ******* Mac awoke a few hours later at the hospital, much to the relief of Lauren who had been crying nonstop since his fall. The doctors said that his injuries weren't too serious and would heal up within two weeks. When asked why he was there in the first place, Mac said he was playing with Bloo and all the other imaginary friends. It was then that Lauren realized her son wasn't just mentally delayed. There was something fundamentally wrong with him.  She wanted to scream at Mac that he could've lost his life over a stupid game of pretend, but the head Doctor held her back. He was well familiar with cases like this and knew of an institute that could give Mac the help he desperately needed. Lauren was recommended to go to Madam Foster's home for wayward children. It was a mental health facility specially designed to deal with kids who had Mac's unique condition. With no other options, Lauren scheduled a visit there as soon as Mac was fully healed. Lauren was greeted by a red-headed nurse when she admitted Mac in. Her name was Frankie and she was the granddaughter of the facility's founder. She got along well with Mac, helping him adjust to his new surroundings and performing mental health exercises. Lauren was astonished at how normal Mac was around Frankie. He didn't talk about Bloo as often and seemed more grounded in reality. Frankie explained to her that Mac suffered from Tulpa syndrome. It was a common disorder among children who come from troubled homes. They would create imaginary friends to help deal with their stress and form intense bonds with them. What made these friends unique was that they were metaphysical beings, meaning that they could have a tangible effect on the world even though they could only be seen by children with the disease. A child's imagination is incredibly powerful and their tulpa is no different. It's been noted that tulpas have their own free will and have a tendency to get violent if they feel their owner is in danger. Within Madam Foster's facility, the children could slowly move past their trauma and become less dependent on their imaginary friends, weakening their power until they reverted back to nothing. It was too much for Lauren to even begin to comprehend. Her son had somehow spawned an otherworldly creature into existence through imagination alone? She wanted to laugh in Frankie's face but her mind wandered back to all those strange events that happened at home. She never could explain why items would go missing and how Mac somehow had knowledge of what she did while home alone. And then there was the matter of the abandoned mansion. She asked Frankie what about the mansion drew Mac to it and her answer made Lauren's blood chill. The mansion used to belong to a wealthy family of many children. The family would often invite other kids to play in their mansion and host several parties throughout the year. All that fun would come to an end when a flame broke out, tragically ending the lives of almost everyone inside. There was one survivor, a girl whose name was withheld from the media due to her age. She told reporters that her imaginary friend felt like she abandoned it for her human friends so she set the place ablaze to get her attention. Ever since then, that mansion has been a hotspot of children with tulpa syndrome. It was like there was a magnetic force compelling them to visit it. Frankie theorized that the friend's lingering feelings of abandonment drew like-minded kids to the property. Hearing it all laid out like that made Lauren question her parenting. Being a single mother, she devoted herself to her job nearly 24/7 to provide for her two boys. Her family was financially afloat, but at what cost? Mac often begged her to spend more time with him and she always brushed him off by reminding him how important it was for her to keep a roof over their heads. There was also the matter of Terrence who had grown into a complete delinquent due to a lack of supervision. The guilt grappling her heart was immense. Mac was all alone and felt the need to create someone to keep him company.  She couldn’t help but blame herself for Mac's condition. Lauren knew she had to be there for him. Lauren spent every day she could visiting Mac at Madam Foster's and watch his progress. The road forward was tumultuous at first, but with perseverance and the support of everyone in the facility, Mac was on the path to recovery. He could go for long periods of time without mentioning Bloo and seemed to grasp the idea that he was just imaginary. Lauren eagerly awaited the day he could return to a normal life. One day, as she was making her way outside, Lauren felt something trip her and sent her plummeting to the ground. She rubbed her head groggily and picked up a piece of paper placed by her feet. What it read made her heart sink. " MAC DOESN'T BELONG TO YOU! STOP TRYING TO TAKE HIM AWAY FROM ME BEFORE YOU END UP LIKE THE OTHERS!"