Those stories he gathered, the way one gathers wood.
"Il รฉtait une fois," he will say, before sliding into stories of palaces and kings, of gold and glamour, of masquerade balls and cities full of splendor. Once upon a time. This is how the story starts.
im the priest's favorite
sacrificial lamb because
i am so docile n sweet
n i hold very still when
they put the rope around
my neck n i trot along so
happily while they lead me
to the altar