Foe Paw

Blessings or curses.  Sometimes it’s hard to know which is which.  Either way, it was an extraordinary find, collecting this specimen, even though I extended well beyond the safety rules I had set for myself.  First of all, it was much later than I usually allow my expeditions to go.  It’s difficult, if not impossible to collect any useful data or specimens before sunset, so I’m accustomed to working without sunlight, but on this particular evening, I stayed much longer than usual, until I was enveloped in complete darkness.  The other rule I broke was not to wander into the abandoned mines beneath Centralia.  Although I was well equipped with an Israeli gas mask, the air underground is quite toxic, and I could not stay long.  My gear was simply not made for prolonged exposure to those gasses.

I will admit that it was not the first time I entered one of those mine shafts, but only in a cursory way, simple exploration.  I don’t know what drew me in that night, but I can say that in the still darkness there is a pulsing, like a heartbeat, from deep underground, and it calls out, come, come.  I nearly followed that pulse, but as luck would have it, I stumbled across this doll, which broke my reverie, and so I grabbed it and fled.

So here it is.  One of the stranger specimens due to the amount of different toys it is comprised of.  It appears to have stayed within the deeper parts of the mine, evidenced by the coating of grime, and although the prospect of entering those mine shafts at night is frightening, I never would have found it otherwise.