Behind The Shadows Of Walmart

"Can you turn the popsicle music down, Mister?
It's starting to make me feel like I'm going to throw up"
"Oh, come on! all kids love popsicle music... Here, have a Wonder-Woman cool tube
Let's look for Mr. Noodles behind the Walmart, he might have ended up there searching for a Dorito
Oh, wouldn't it be wonderful if he was behind the Walmart? Come on, let's go look"
Together they walked through the shadows of the Walmart parking lot
The ice cream jingle was fading with the sun into the darkness
Soon they found themselves deep in the heart of the shadows behind Walmart
It was so dark and cold here... He thought to himself
How would we find Mr. Noodles even if he was here?
Mr. Noodles, are you here?
"I don't hear anything, Mister... I don't think Mr. Noodles is here"
"You don't know how to hear him... His voice is very tiny... It's so tiny
He could be screaming for help and most people would never be able to hear him at all!
Sometimes Mr. Noodles likes to be in the moonlight where he can metamorphosize
He likes to throw himself around in the darkness and feel the madness of being outside with his body
Ohh! Mr. Noodles was dancing his little legs off, did you see him?"
"No... Where is he?"
"I don't know... Where is he? Mr. Noodles!
Mr. Noodles likes to sit between my legs and stand up real tall and proud and beg to be stroked
And when that happens he starts drooling and quoting from the Talmud
Look over there... What's that?"
They both turned to look and saw something glowing in the corner, a black cube made of stone
Carved into it was a symbol... A sphere within a triangle and three Chevrons
A soft glow surrounded the cube which was now a sphere
Vapors that were black like sackcloth swarmed around the sphere as if it were a living thing
Living fabric made of soot, folding inward upon itself, over and over
Looking at it caused Johnny's eyes to fill with black light, he was compelled to approach the sphere
His feet stepped forward on their own... Even though he resisted, it made no difference
As he approached the sphere... It became a cube again
Johnny felt like he was walking backwards into a strobe light
Everything was flashing out of sequence
Sometimes one step would be forward, sometimes backwards
Doubling and tripling flashes causing absolute disorientation
He felt like each of his eyes were in different heads
The darkness inverted into a deeper darkness with shades of blackened green then nothing
He felt as if he were sinking into the ground while simultaneously floating above himself
"Look over there! It's a half-eaten Dorito! Mr. Noodles was here! He was here!"
"I can't move, Mister... I think I am gonna pass out"
"No, you're not! You just need a sour wiggler... Here, have two... One for each hemisphere
Hurry... We have to get back to the truck... Mr. Noodles can't be far!
Get away from that thing, you're not supposed to know it
You're not a philosopher, come on... Follow me"
As they got back inside the ice cream truck
The last remaining streak of red disappeared from the horizon
The symbols on the sphere were still imprinted on Johnny's retinas
And he saw them wherever he looked
He saw them on people, on buildings, on sidewalks, everywhere
It was as if the symbols were there all along and always had been