Exhibition
    ^^^^^^^^^^

The entire hive emerged for the fair.

Some rode, some fed. Some came in disguise. I was just a watcher,
gawking at the oddities in the exhibits. The air was conditioned.

Blue smoke filled the venue like there were bets on this. I swam
through the swarm, one inch at a time, peering over and between
bodies to get a peek at the wonders.

The ribbons were cheap, already threadbare. The entries were
trivial: confections, crops, some watercolors. In the corner some
carvinorous plant had devoured a child. Everything was taped off.

Nobody seemed to notice or care about the magnificent glowing
centerpiece---suspended in the air and as still as a winter dawn.
You couldn't quite look directly at it. It seemed to retreat into a
fold in the vacant space of the room.

I was unsure what to make of it. I noticed another guest glancing
over at it, and tried to ask him what it meant once we got close.
But I couldn't make a sound. If I had, then I didn't hear it. The
smoke suddenly felt like a down pillow against my face. I never saw
his, come to think of it...his face. It just wasn't there.

I needed a little air, I decided. So I made my way toward the exit.
Every wall was decorated with exhibits, though. A million exhibits
and not one exit. Christ... Every one was unique---mundane, plain,
ordinary, but unique. At least I wasn't going in circles.

I became intrigued by their detail. The crumb of the streussel on
that coffee cake was exquisite. I'd never felt so moved by a
dessert before. Someone had made that! The fact of baking
overwhelmed me; the fact that we are capable of so much beauty and
care. I wanted to hug my parents suddenly. I felt guilty that I
never achieved what I was capable of. I'd never even flipped a god
damn pancake before.

I could no longer make out the subtleties of the crumb. The whole
room was an irritating glare and the din of the hall had sharpened
to an unpleasant screech. It was quickening. Everyone seemed to be
moving, and breathing even faster. I caught myself whimpering out
of terror---not quite frightened enough to scream. That's when the
doors opened, and everyone got off the ride.

The night air outside was cool, sticky with the scent of carmelized
confections and spilled beer. I threw up into a shrub just outside
the exit, and gazed at it for a moment there, obscured by my own
shadow. I glanced over my shoulder, and was immediately blinded by
the bands of light coming out of the doorway where a stampede of
silhouettes was emerging. I lay helplessly staring as they stepped
all around and over me, trampling my body into a numb pulp.

The last thing I remember was the blur of a crowd gathering around
the mess of tissue I had been reduced to, roaring in applause and
howling frantically as it pinned a cheap nylon ribbon to my shirt.
After that it was all dirt. Dirt at last.


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