________  ________  ________   
   2020-11-25                                   /        \/        \/    /   \  
                                               /       __/         /_       _/ 
   I keep a bat under my bed. It's heavy and  /        _/         /         / 
black and cold and scary.                     \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
                                                /        \/        \/    /   \
   The bat's  there in case  things  get bad   /        _/         /_       _/
In case something  gets in that frightens me  /-        /        _/         /
so much that the only way to protect  myself  \________/\________/\___/____/
and the people I love is to take up that bat
and swing away.

   I live in a safe neighborhood and I lock my doors and windows. When I weigh
it up, in all likelihood  I'll never  have to take  up that cold  bat and I'll 
ever have to swing it's heavy, black body.

   But it  waits  there  like  a patient  animal, silent.  Claws and teeth and
muscle perfectly still, waiting for the moment  they're needed. It's a comfort
to know  it's there,  a weapon  under my bed,  hidden  from view,  though It's
troubling  to  know there's things I'm  so scared  of that I  need it there to
comfort me, and It's terrifying to know the damage that I'll do if I ever have
to use it.


EOF