[Entry XVII]
Recovered from the remnants of an unnamed fire, the Nightfire Ring seems less an artifact and more an organism — one that feeds on thought, not flesh. Prolonged contact may cause temporal echoes or premature illumination of the spine.
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It started humming again last night.
Not a song, exactly — more like a memory warming its hands.
I tried leaving it in the sink.
It boiled the water.
Tried burying it.
The dirt turned to glass.
Tried ignoring it.
That didn’t go well.
When I finally looked straight at it,
it blinked —
once —
like an eye deciding whether I was real.
They say the Nightfire remembers its previous wearer,
but it’s been remembering out loud.
Laughs at odd hours.
Flickers when someone lies.
Once it whispered a word I’d never heard before,
and three hours later the sunrise came in crooked.
Now it hums in time with my pulse.
Sometimes faster.
Sometimes before.
If I go missing, check the ashtray.
I’ve been dreaming of turning inside out.
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Record preserved by perilpoet
Manifest the Nightfire Ring here
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