I can't recall when my dreams took me away.

The old woman says, "Yesterday, after lifting the sacrifice, everyone was applauding the sun together. It felt like the sun was revolving around them. Perhaps today you can witness that moment. You've been asleep since yesterday when I put the necklace around your neck. The old man gave me a powerful ampule for you. I administered the ampule to you. Whatever it was, it was very potent. It worked wonders for you."

- Are you lying? Was I asleep all this time? I'll... kill you!

- You can't.

- Maybe not like that, but...

I retaliated with a forceful slap, leaving her wrinkled face unbalanced. At first, anger flashes across her face. The old woman rises and says, "I'll get my revenge during your sleep. I'll make sure you sleep for the rest of your life, you lazy child! Whenever you're ready to go anywhere, let's go. I'm tired of this. I've taken care of your breakfast. Come eat, let's go. While you were asleep, I looked around. That door you see leads to the media building. Today, we can start by looking over there."

We step into the newspaper building. The entire structure is shrouded in darkness. Coffee-colored lights are soaring, preparing the newspapers. We make our way inside completely, and all the coffee worms have gathered in a circle. Their bodies coil like springs, launching them upwards. It seems like no one notices us. The newspaper building has two doors—one leading to the solar building and the other to the outside of the solar newspaper. We enter the city with the old woman through the newspaper door. Nevertheless, the faint light from the old woman subtly alters the situation.

A worm with a green glow stands in the center of the small square across from the radiant building, while another worm with an orange glow invites everyone to the square. Anyone accepting the invitation steps closer to the square, mesmerized by the radiant glow of the worms. The orange worm moves alongside, and the joy of the people intensifies. The green-lit worm speaks, "We bring you together to show that the sun belongs to all of us. We don't want to selfishly exploit the sun. You can join the Solar Society. And through worship, seek strength from it..." He has no new words to say. People, more captivated by his luminous green, connect with each other rather than paying attention to his words.

On the sidewalk, a child are selling newspapers marked with the symbol of the sun.

I ask the child, "Why do you sell newspapers? Doesn't everyone have for sale?"

He quickly pays respect to both me and the old woman. He says, "I swear, I'm doing my best to sell well. Did I make a mistake? Why should someone else sell instead of me?"

- I meant, why shouldn't the priests sell themselves?

- Their heads are too busy. Even if they want to sell themselves, no one allows them to take a step towards it. Everyone is eager to help them. And besides, why not sell! I sell all the newspapers. They pay me a good salary.

The old woman says, "Leave this kid alone. He likes selling. What's it to you? Come on, let's go."

- I ask for a newspaper one day.

The child hands it over and says, "It's yours." I lay the newspaper on the ground and, by twisting my body around a nearby pole, turn my back to the newspaper. Since leaving the madhouse, many aspects of me have become like other worms, but my love for the sun hasn't diminished, and I no longer have the patience to stand on my tail. I crawl like the rest. I don't read all the headlines. One headline grabs my attention. The front page is filled with bold letters: "Pollution and Death of the sweepers Still Prevail." I read the entire news page. The summary urges people to join the sun worshippers. Until everyone purifies themselves through sun worship, the self-destructive spreaders continue to shed their tainted blood, leading to unintentional suicides of the pure sweepers. As a result, our brightness diminishes, and we move towards darkness.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I ponder: "Why should those who want to commit suicide have their blood tainted? Why should pollution dominate it?"

The old woman picks up my newspaper with her mouth and tosses it into the garbage bin. She says, "I'm tired. Let's move."

I find myself getting used to the old woman's routines. If there was a more interesting story in the newspaper that I hadn't read, I would surely slam my tail against my face again. The old woman stands by the street, close to the newspaper vendor, waiting for a car. I ask, "Do you have money?" "No, I don't. I have respect," she replies. A car with a sun symbol pulls up in front of us. The old woman can't believe we've become important. The driver sees her excitement in the rearview mirror and says, "These cars are for you esteemed priests. We are at your service every hour of the day." I give him the address of my old neighborhood. We get in, and he says, "If you need to stand on top of a building, the first sun-labeled car nearby will see your light and come for you." Seeing the old neighborhood brings a sense of calm. All of its people are sweepers. They all live in metal houses resembling one another. As we move deeper into the narrow streets, we distance ourselves from the car commotion. The metal houses on either side of the street get closer. It seems behind the metal walls, no one lives except darkness. Sometimes, I catch a glimpse of the whiteness of unfamiliar eyes from the openings of the metal houses.

The old woman says, "You had to bring me to such a terrifying and filthy place?"

- Whatever you want to call this neighborhood, except for filthy! This is the home of those who sacrifice their lives for cleanliness.

- Alright, I get it. You're clean.

The sound of footsteps echoes from the metal. I look inside one of the houses through a hole and see someone wandering around. I feel like I know this person. I crawl inside the hole and follow him. As he notices me behind him, he quickens his pace. He climbs up two pipes attached to the wall and reaches the back of the roof of the fourth floor. I coil around the pipes and climb up. He tries to keep his face hidden. He reaches the edge of the building and jumps onto another building using a rope. I get close to the edge. I shout:

"I don't care about you. Why are you running away?"

- You and the others caused so much trouble for us. Is there anything left that you haven't done?

- What have I done? I wasn't there... I didn't do anything.

- Don't play dumb.

- What do I need to know that I don't know? I'm just like one of you.

- You're one of them. Ruthless priests! You damn lot are so merciless.

The old woman reaches the rooftop and says, "What's going on here?" The fugitive enters a small room on the roof, and from there, he talks to me. The darkness of the room prevents me from seeing his face.

I tell him, "I grew up right here. My parents were sweepers."

The old woman says, "Who are you talking to?"

"You're lying. A sweeper can never become a priest. You're not one of us."

- I was forced into this form of a worm. I didn't want to. Believe me. Otherwise, why would I come here?

- The worms are just trying to deceive us."

- Why would I come here?

"Means you don't know? Go ask your friends. They take sweepers to die. They kill sweepers, and only I know this. No one here believes it. But I've seen it myself."

I am shocked. I can't find words to speak. I don't know if I should believe her. He continues.

"I saw it myself. I was holding a pot of food. I was looking for my mom and dad to have a meal together. A few worms with long cloaks, no light! Their light was hidden under black cloaks! They threw the worm in the middle of the street from the top of a building. From behind a broken wall, I saw everything. We always came behind that wall to eat our food. My mom and dad heard the sound of the fall and saw the dead man. From a distance, I see my parents! They savagely rush towards the dead man and focus on licking the blood on his body and the asphalt. From behind the wall, I don't come out because I'm scared. I don't show myself until their job is done. With blood on their clothes and inside their mouths, they go up to the top of a building where the cloaked worms were before. I come out from behind the wall into the middle of the street with the pot in my hand. Both of them fall in front of my feet from the top of the building. No one else is around them. I don't know what to do! I approach them, throw the spoon into their mouths, and leave the empty pot in front of their eyes.

My tears have run dry. I remember. I remember it was me in that moment. How could I forget? When my mom and dad died or when the cloaked worms were on top of the building. I remember. When the dwarf came after me, I looked out of the metal hole of our house with fear and asked for help from the sun. I hear a noise and run towards the top of the building. I haven't reached the edge of the building yet when the dwarf grabs my hand and puts me to sleep with an injection.

A poignant reminder drives me insane. I shout with a loud and mad voice, 'I will kill them all. I will kill them all.'

The old woman asks, "Whose life do you want to take?"

- I'll kill you too. I'll kill all of you.

I glance at the little room across the street and scream, "I'll kill you too!" The old woman approaches me and slowly encircles herself around me. She injects me with her needles, and I feel like I can't see anything."

to be continued...