ref: b9fbb17c04e4ccfb2021dac818e514351ca8f646
dir: /troff/0601.ms/
.LP \& .ce .sp |4.25i .PP .ps 12 .I A moth ate words. That seemed to me a curious happening, when I heard about that wonder, that the worm, a thief in the darkness, swallowed a certain man's song, a glory\-fast speech and its strong foundation. The stealing guest was not at all the wiser for that, for those words which he swallowed. .R .PP .ps 12 \(em Exeter Book Riddle 47 .PP .ps 12 .CW ░ New York, 2020. .PP .ps 12 Tom tracked the moth's progress with uncharacteristic interest as the insect traced a diagonal path across the inside of his visor. Annoyingly, it was interfering with his vision. He batted his eyelashes, but the tiny moth stubbornly remained affixed to he underside of the handsfree display. There was nothing left to say. He was going to have to kill the damned thing. .PP .ps 12 Tom ripped the visor from his face and flung it hard across the room, where presently it skidded to a dull stop. Now fully blind, he realized with a start that he could no longer see to kill \fIanything.\fR His situation would appear to have degraded. In fact, it had both degraded and improved. He no longer had to contend with the moth fucking up his display. On the other hand, he could no longer see, at all. The balance of the Force. .PP .ps 12 Tom pressed the button on his belt that called for his secretary. .PP .ps 12 Too much of his time lately had been spent in this fashion. Grasping at fantasies, wallowing in confusion. Tom longed for the smell of battle. It had been... too long. Years prior he had donated all his weapons to the children's mission. It seemed like such a long time ago, now. .PP .ps 12 "That's because it was," Piro said, responding to Tom's unspoken lament. .PP .ps 12 Tom ignored him.