Arnold wasn’t much of a name, but it was the one his novelist had dreamt up for him. It was a mug’s name, no two ways about it, and he wanted out from under its influence. Trouble is, you can’t just ignore these things, or refuse to answer to them, because that won’t make them…

I strayed here on a pathway of words, where others had walked before. I stamped on their vocabulary and punctuation, seeking to find a meaning of my own, but the path was worn deep with many footsteps. I struggled to stray beyond its confines, found myself foundering in the well-trodden mud, but myself and his…