• Vol. 05
  • Chapter 06

What There is to Lose

The man on top of the tower says he doesn't know how he got there. He's been there for as long as he can remember – all his life. His father and his father's father and his father's father's father before him each took up the post. The man on top of the tower complains of loneliness and tells us that we don't know how hard it is, that he never asked for this. But as he surveys the city and the world beyond it, the view is spectacular. All that is his, bathed in orange. Make no mistake, he'll stamp on as many fingers as necessary to preserve his spot. The thing is, from up there, he can admire the view, but he can't see the people below, on whom the sun is yet to rise. He can't see them or hear them or know them. And for a man in his position, surprises can be fatal.

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