Humpty Dumpty

(text-colour:yellow)["Humpty Dumpty"] sat on a [[wall]].

"What are you doing so high up there, Humpty?" "I wanted to see what I was meant to become." [[the view]] "They told me I would never reach the top, and I had to prove them wrong." [[prove them wrong]] [[Jump]] [[stay still]]

//All the king's horses and all the king's men,// //Couldn't put Humpty together.// [[again->Humpty Dumpty]]

Humpty swings his legs from the edge of the wall. Surely he's earned a moment to [[appreciate]] where he is. [[Jump]]

Humpty looks down at the kingdom below him... [[wave to the king's horses]] [[wave to the king's men]] [[Jump]]

Humpty waves down at the king's horses where they rest in their stalls. They don't look up at him, too absorbed in their feedbags. Humpty sighs. It's going to take more than that to get their attention. [[call to the horses]] [[Jump]]

Humpty waves enthusiastically down at the king's men where they stand scowling at him from below. The head guard yells up at him, red in the face, "Humpty, get down from there this instant!" [[I don't think I will.->refuse]] [[Jump]]

(text-colour:yellow)["Hullo there, horses!"] Humpty calls toward the stable. (text-colour:yellow)["Can you even hear me?"] One of the horses raises its head to look at him. It snorts in disinterest before returning to its oats. Humpty chuckles dryly to himself. (text-colour:yellow)["If only I was a horse. Fast. Powerful. Free..."] He closes his eyes to imagine it. (text-colour:yellow)["Yes, a horse, that's what I'd like to be."] As he pictures a free life as one of the king's horses, [[he leans back...->fall]]

//Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.// [[fall]]

As Humpty falls, he remembers distantly... A kingdom under siege. An invading army under fire. A victory at [[the end->war]] of a battle.

He remembers a kingdom under siege. An invading army under fire. A victory at the end of a battle. No, not just any battle. His battle. The one [[he fought->war]] in all those years ago.

Humpty pauses, gazing down at the wall beneath him. He didn't believe he could actually do it. He never thought he'd be able to climb [[so high]] [[Jump]]

"Humpty Dumpty" was not the name of an egg, with a cracked and fragile shell that would shatter beyond repair. It was the name of a cannon, wrought from iron. Built to sit high above the wall. Built to hold the line. Built to be used. And when the firing stopped, it was left where it stood. Too heavy to carry down. Too broken to fire again. [[again->Humpty Dumpty]]

But here he is. At the top of the wall. He feels how solid it is beneath him. How long it's stood tall. He rises to his feet, wanting to stand tall too. Standing firm and strong atop the wall, the wind blowing in his face. This is somewhere he has stood before. And suddenly, he [[remembers->remembers]]

Humpty does not move. He lets wind press against him, and waits. Time stretches. He wonders, "Is this what survival feels like... not falling?" "Maybe I've seen too much." "Maybe I've stayed too long." "Maybe I...." [[Eventually...->Jump]]

war a way of making ruin sound necessary associated with: obedience spectacle being told where to stand side effects: the body keeps the score. structural note: survival is grotesquely distributed [[continue->he finally remembers]]

"I'm quite comfortable up here actually!" Humpty cups his mouth to shout back his reply. "Get down in the name of the king!" Humpty pretends not to hear even as the king's men begin to scale the wall. As they get closer and closer he only smiles. The head guard reaches for him but only manages to snag his clothes, [[knocking him off balance]]