Gredg

The gredg does not forgive.

The crate was never picked up.

But worse: the gredg does not forget. And now that I have said its name, now that I have written it down, now that you are reading this—it knows you, too. The gredg does not forgive

I said the word aloud: Gredg . It felt wrong in the mouth, like chewing wool. The soft gr- scraping against the hard -edg , the closure of the final consonant too final, too sharp. A sound that ends like a door slamming. The gredg does not forgive

Don't look behind you. But if you do—don't blink. The gredg does not forgive