When I was a child, I lived in an old run-down apartment complex. We still do, and even though it was ages ago, I still remember talking to my friend in the walls.

You see, I lived with my uncle, my parents weren't around anymore, and he did his best, but he struggled a lot. Because of this I didn't ever mind when he would lock himself away and do nothing but sleep after working nonstop the day before, but I was often lonely. We knew this feeling well, and my young curious mind searched for even the most bizarre of company. The old homeless man by the park would tell me stories about his youth, the teenager who lived across the air vent would whisper to me about their days at school, and my friend in the wall would spin tales of fantasy as if it was fact.

I think my favorite tale was the one about the little boy who, much like myself, just wanted a friend, and so a pack of friendly rodents came and swept him away where nothing could hurt them. My friend in the walls said they could sweep me away too, all I had to do was break a hole in my wall. We were happy at the chance to have friends. I loved my uncle, but I knew he was exhausted, and I didn't want to keep burdening him, so I started scratching at the wall.

Progress was very slow, but I had to be stealthy so my hard work wouldn't be undone by my uncle, he was always fixing the cracks and leaks. Using a variety of tools, forks, knives, spoons, if I could get my hands on it i would use it. My friend told me that i could only carve away at the wall when I was the most desperate, any other feeling would break the magic that would let us escape and steal me away. Eventually after many stories of friendship and lands far away just behind the wall, a small hole was starting to form. Within it I heard the scurrying claws of numerous rats, all with sweet voices promising to take me on adventures if I made the hole big enough to get in.

So, I kept digging and clawing, growing more desperate until finally, a massive hole was in the wall, just big enough for us to crawl through. Cautiously I peeked inside and to my disappointment, there was absolutely nothing. The foot pattern of rats ceased, and our voice was nowhere to be heard.

Suddenly as if a bomb went off, rats of pure black ink with hauntingly white eyes swarmed around me like a whirlpool. They bit and scratched at my arms and legs, ripping and infecting. pain shot through me, but I remembered what they told me. They told me this was all a part of the process and to just let it pass, we would be done soon, and we can be together at last. We could finally meet and become the best of friends. So I listened.

I lied down on the carpet of my bedroom floor, flesh turned into a bloody pulp, as my friend dragged me towards the black abyss that was the hole in my wall. we fell in and all the pain stopped, we were together in the wall. We would never be lonely, never hurt, but we wanted more. We heard the cries of a lonely child and we answered, we told him stories and became his friend. He would be with us soon, and he'd never be lonely, this made us happy as we scurried around the void of our walls. We know what it's like to be a lonely child, and we'll take all the lonely children and welcome them with a biting inky embrace.

I don't know if anyone is going to read this, it's probably just in our head. But we are happy now, we are not lonely, and soon you won't be either. We are scratching at your walls now, can you hear us? We know you can. We'll be together soon and you won't be lonely anymore. All you have to do is let us in. Just let us in and we can be best friends too. We can be together, and you'll never be lonely, ever again.