Is it going to be zero or infinity?
I'm gonna spend forever now underground
Will I feel it when my mind starts shutting down?
I think about people, I think about friends
I think about things I won't do again
(people)
(precious objects)
(color images)
(shapes -> black and white)
cried -> breathed -> cried -> breathed
------STOP-----------
I know now that there were 8 weeks intervening, but I experienced it as instantaneous.
Suddenly I was perfectly fine. The interior of the coffin was unchanged as far as I could tell.
I felt a renewed sense of energy and urgency, and I made another attempt at breaking through the top of the coffin. This time I seemed to have extraordinary strength, and was able to break the wood easily. Dirt poured in but I immediately and unconsciously (and frantically) adopted a very urgent sort of swimming, straight upwards through the torn silk of the coffin lining, the shattered wood of the coffin's lid, and into the loose dirt above. I swam up through the dry soil with long powerful strokes. I remember knowing without the slightest doubt that I was going to reach the surface. The earth grew warm as I moved up, and then I took a stroke in which half my arm broke the surface. It felt delicious... I felt the sun instantly. I took another big lunging stroke with both arms and threw them to the sides, pulling myself from the ground in a single, explosive and frantic motion. I remember that the urgency of leaving the ground felt very much as if I had been in a pool that had suddenly proven itself extremely unsafe. I vaguely imagined the toothy and ravenous fishes of the soil as I pulled my legs and feet quickly out to stand on the warm, loose-packed ground. It was indescribably surreal, but I'll try. Sunshine. Beautiful, warm sunshine. Warm breeze. Trees. I thought it might be a miracle, but then isn't there usually some communication involved in miracles? Wouldn't the miracle-maker also send some sort of message along with the miracle, so that I knew who to thank? Maybe it was a dream, or maybe I was dead and this is how they introduce us to the afterlife, or hell, or wherever I was. It was hard to imagine it was hell, aside from the sadistic path through the Earth I had just traversed in order to enter. That part didn't seem very heaven-like. I didn't intend to worry about it too much, though, and the more I thought about it the more I seemed to feel that I did have a sense of purpose that I didn't remember having before. Well, if I had been brought back by a greater power to do some greater deed, then I guess I'm going to do it. Seems fair.
First, though. Where was I? Standing on a sloping hillside in a clearing amid tall pine trees. Wild grass and shrubs, dry and golden in what must be the summer heat. I could see that I was some ways up the climbing sides of a deep pine-covered valley. The other side of the valley was in shade, but the side where I stood was bathed in glorious, blinding, sun. The sky was utterly clear. A gentle, warm breeze gusted occasionally, waving the grass and rustling the needles of the pines. For many long minutes I stood and contemplated my new found freedom, and its implications. Then I simply decided it was too much to handle at once, and since it might be a dream, or some last gasp of my brain as the real me lay dying, I might as well enjoy it. I wouldn't squander my time, and I wouldn't shut any doors... I couldn't see any buildings or roads, so I would need to find food and water. Then I would figure out where I was. For a moment, I considered the fact that the average man's first desire would be to contact his relatives, or his wife, or his friends. Turning, I set that thought aside and began to walk down into the valley through the waving grasses and under the blazing, wonderful sun.
Will, pick a loop
Steve, grab a bass
I'm gonna cruise all over the place
Will, turn on your guitar and make your intervals known
Steve: keep rockin' the basstrophone
One to the two to the three to the one
Skip the two to the three, skip the one to the two
Skip the one and the two to the three
Skip the one and the two and the three to the one
and we're done
flip flop and you don't start stoppin'
hug your friends, let the beat keep droppin
grab your refreshment, grab your girl
anytime, anyplace, anywhere in the world
So step outside, feel the sun
Pull out your phone, tell everyone
If you're here in town, come on by
If not, then consider that I told you hi.
