Conjured images

It feels like: :: The sounding of "drums in the deep" from the Mines of Moria, in Lord of the Rings. :: The high-pitched whistle of a bomb dropped from a cargo bay. :: The screech of brakes and friction-melted rubber on pavement, just before the crunch. :: The metallic cocking of a gun, in the hands of someone viciously motivated. :: The tightness you feel when you've held your breath too long underwater, notable because you know the tightness is the first in a long series of painful sensations. :: The first slip of a finger when you're hanging on over a precipice. :: A lit match over an ocean of gasoline. My back is giving out again. Tonight will be interesting. UPDATE: Last night was interesting. My back did throb, but it subsided after a while. Stretching helps. Not having a choice but to be moving also helps, in a painfully ironic way. Sleeping on strewn couch pillows because some idiot you don't know drank too much and passed out in your bed, hereby becoming an immovable object, does not help. Right now, imagine that bomb landed and exploded and my ears are still ringing, but I'm still alive.