The Tiff Singularity (A Collection of Lake Wonder Fiction)

Spinning Decay Journal Entry #3 (Denny)

The rest of the day was... weird. It was OK, I mean.

I didn't know there were giant spiders out in these woods, but there definitely are. Met one named Lucy. Adorable little guy, to be honest-- albeit one who can get into your head and your dreams. I spoke to her about some things. A lot to think about there, for sure. Maybe she is right, but that's something I'll have to think about more after all this shit is over. We've got a weird thing to get rid of.

Speaking of, I got it on me. Robin got it off, thank god, but that entire thing was so... weird? I can't think of another word for it. Because Lucy brought us to this clearing and there was this forest spirit thing and Drake is connected to it because of the whole, you know... And the spirit... Well, it's in bad shape. The spiders have been spinning nonstop since all of this started, trying to keep it safe, trying to keep this seeping thing from, like, seeping. And Robin was able to see what the hell was going on, but it didn't want them to touch it, so I had to do it which was definitely a bad idea because while I was gathering a sample of the sludge, it got on me. It was like it was sapping my strength-- and I'm not sure what that means, but I'm not sure I like it. I don't like any of this...

But you know what? We're going to fix it. We're going to get rid of the... well, the whatever-this-is. And everything is going to be OK. The forest is going to be OK, the spiders are going to be OK, Drake and Robin and Lucky (wherever they are) are going to be OK, and everything is going to be fine. You know why? I have seen the mundane in the face of the overwhelming supernatural. If we can have a night of relative levity where Robin and I tease Drake about his previous obliviousness concerning Betty (and subsequently lie about my own relationship track record), and if we can have a good night before facing down the nightmare at the end of this path, then I think we can fix it. We can change this. We can save what needs to be saved, we can restore what needs to be restored, we can protect what needs to be protected, and we can fix it. We can fix the forest so it can fix itself.

And I'll be damned if we don't get out of this alive.