“The apartment was merely a collection of looted, hollowed out shades of paint.”

“My stomach gets that hollowed-out feeling. It's amazing how words can do that, just shred your insides apart.”

“Sheep. Looting. Cousins."Lucien cursed and got out of bed.”

“I merely feel emptyness. A hollow of dead brush where flowers use to bloom.”

“The sky grew darker, painted blue on blue, one stroke at a time, into deeper and deeper shades of night.”

“Did I tell you about Anton?" Loots said.Anton?" I shook my head.It was a week ago, Loots said. There had been a knock on the door of his apartment and when he opened it his old friend Anton was standing there. Anton was a clown. He belonged to a circus that toured the provinces, playing to small towns and villages. They talked about the old days for a while, but Anton became increasingly restless and distracted. In the end Loots had to ask him if there was something wrong.This is going to sound strange." The clown coughed nervously into his fist. "It's The Invisible Man. He's disappeared."Loots stared at his friend.He just vanished," Anton said, "into thin air."The Invisible Man?" Loots said.Yes."He's disappeared?"I told you it would sound strange," Anton said.”