2

You're going to climb the tower. It's the thing that has to happen. Both you and the tower need to do this to be complete. You grab the last bit to attach at the very top and start working your way up. You didn't think this would be easy, but you somehow find reserves of strength that you didn't know you had. You climb quickly up and feel a rising sense of belonging. As you enter the cloud layer everything goes gray but you keep climbing and with your mind's eye only see the tower. The tower is the focus; it’s what all things are measured by; it holds both space and time up. Everything is in its right place because the tower is in its right place. Or it will be, once you attach the last bit. You climb, layer by layer, past the clouds and into the cold, until finally you arrive at the top where the last bit goes. In the distance the Earth curves, somewhere below you are the clouds, and somewhere below that is the party. You will get back. You will bring the people in the clock camp to DJ the party. You will take care of everything, but for a moment you will stay here, at the center of the sky, savoring this moment before you attach the final bit that will separate the heavens from the Earth.

an ending