Ashtub ------ I'm imagining some sort of horror movie moment where you ask a local about it, and he looks where you're pointing, and says, "what the hell are you talking about, boy?" And there's nothing there. Later, you notice the bathtub in other places. You're always the only one who can see it. If you photograph it, you can see it in the photograph, but everybody else sees an empty patch of ground. You start to become obsessed with the bathtub. Why would whatever supernatural power has chosen to taunt you choose something so mundane to do it with? You've been keeping your distance so far, but you start to get braver, and eventually, you walk up to it and peer inside, seeing only ash. It manifested in your front yard this time. That makes things easy. You poke at it and stir it around with a broom handle. It doesn't seem unusual, except for the whole selective perception thing. You're reminded of that phenomenon when a passer-by gives you a funny look. To him, it probably looks like you're staring at nothing while waving a broom handle around in space. Fuck him, he doesn't have your problems. Anyway, it seems harmless, so you reach in to pick up some of the ash inside. Maybe that will give you a clue. The instant you touch it, a warm feeling spreads over you, starting at the point of contact. You've never felt so good! It's like an orgasm combined with eating some really good food, combined with getting a massage, combined with, you don't know what else. You draw back, suspicious. Aside from the fact that the ash seems to be sticking to your hand, you seem to be unharmed. On impulse, you hop into the bathtub, clothes and all. It's incredible. No words can hope to describe the feeling. This is the best moment of your life. A few minutes later, the feeling starts to fade, and you start to feel a little sheepish. You go to get out of the bathtub, but it seems like you can't get purchase on anything. Why did this seem like a good idea? Two people approach along the sidewalk. You draw breath to call out to them, but there's so much ash in the air that you wheeze instead of screaming. Your hands feel so slippery. You hold them up in front of you and try to brush off the ash. Why is it sticking to you like that? It's not sticking to you at all. You're crumbling. It doesn't completely sink in until one of your fingers pops off. It lands on the mass that used to be your right leg, and with a faint puffing noise, it spreads out into a layer of ash of a slightly different color from what you now realize is the combined corpses of the tubs previous victims. Your vision starts to fuzz out, and then it goes black. Faintly, as if far away, you hear one of the two passers-by. "Dude, what's up with that creepy bathtub?" Then the other, "What are you on about? You're pointing at nothing, man." Looks like you won't be the last. You have no sense of presence, now, as all your senses have been destroyed. Surely your brain will presently be eroded into nothing, not that it matters, since you haven't been able to breathe since that attempt to scream, and you're starting to lose consciousness. It seems like you've been here for hours, but you can't remember exactly where "here" is. Everything seems to be swimming. And then... ...there is nothing.