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Hi listeners, I'm Jamie Lake and I have a story I want to tell you.

A story of rotten hearts and the blight that blooms within.

So gather around and listen close.

It started with the animals. Back then it was the natural order of things and I didn't interfere.

They came to me often and shredded ribbons gnashed and bloody torn apart by predators of the woods.

Sometimes it was more peaceful than that.

The lucky ones got to die old and take a relieved final breath.

Their bodies nourished the trees. They fertilized the soil, fed the worms and beetles and scavengers

and made the plants grow thick and tall. My hunger was very well satisfied.

It was more than just their bodies though.

Their spirits would join with the forest.

The creatures would flit around for a while as ethereal beings of light and grace

before softly flickering out to somewhere beyond.

It was a temporary joy but a much needed one.

My favorites have always been the rabbits. They were my pets.

They were my friends. The only ones I'd had since my own flesh and bone joined this quiet little corner of the world.

I don't know how time works anymore. I can only make a guess about how long I've been here based on the way my old physical body has changed.

It's a soft sort of decay.

I too fed the roots of trees and plants, blood and tissues seeping into the earth.

Now I merely bones. Years must have passed.

...