Sam wrote a novel about trauma. Specifically, other people’s trauma. It involved over a thousand pages of some of the worst things that could happen to a person. The main narrative arc was nonexistent. At least five of the characters were named Mike. There was a rather vexing and protracted flashback involving a dead goose and a jar of Crisco on Columbus Day? It was a novel that repulsed and disgusted readers, but the readers seemed to want to keep reading. How was the book? someone would curiously ask a friend who had been reading it. And the friend would say, Awful but I couldn’t stop.

Later, they gave the most prestigious book prize to Sam. At the award ceremony, he walked up on stage and cut himself open to reveal a tiny blue being—Pazol—who had lived in Sam and hundreds of vessels before him.

I have studied you all for years upon years and it has led me to this, said Pazol. Thank you for this greatest honor!