Part Won-Sephenn

I run away. It’s what I always do. I just run into the streets, rain pouring down on me, trying to forget that house even exists. I realise that I’m being a coward, but I can’t go in there by myself.
The Phantom Ape, of course, is shocked. He looks different somehow, less transparant.

I say: you look different (he nods)

I ask: is it because of me? (he nods again)

We’re silent for a few minutes. I stop running and start walking. I get tired of walking and I just fall down on my knees. In my coat I grab the pack of disposable razors. I ponder about slashing the Phantom Ape into tiny little monkey bits.

The Phantom Ape asks: Do you want to know what happens if you die? (this time I nod) Well, whatever the reason may be, your bodily functions stop working. That is called being clinically dead. The brain however, is the last part of your body that shuts down. Unless your brain gets smashed of course, but then you’re just very unlucky. So your brain is still active, but it hasn’t a body to control, and it just enters a dream stage before it closes shop.This final dream stage, that lasts about three minutes, is the after life. You see, bored or panicked, your brain throws everything it has stored at you hoping it will trigger a response. For a full three minutes you experience everything that has ever happened to you. If you know that a regular dream lasts only for about thirty seconds, that’s a whole lot of time. After those three minutes, it’s all over. Nothing. Nada. Flat line. So, you’d better live a fun-filled life and try to avoid as much crap as you can or your three minutes will feel like an eternity in hell.

I let go of the razors and take a sip of my rum. I look up and I’m not completely startled when I see the house again. I walk in, straight through the hallway with the closet (with the undead soldier inside waiting to shoot me), and I hug the harlequin with the pink lips who was waiting for me on the stairs. We dance into the dining room where the mysterious stranger is playing the piano. The Bride and the Vampire clap their hands. I laugh and they all laugh with me. When the Phantom Ape asks me another question, they all vanish into smoke.

He asks: why didn’t you open the closet?

I notice that the piano is still playing, although the mysterious stranger is gone. All I can do is stare at a vase with a naked Apollo on it. I try to imagine that the Apollo is smiling at me, but I close my eyes and wait for the music to stop.