The bait you can't buy...

Although the wheels were turning, there was something quite out of tune... The pace had not been resumed, but has been modified with an offset of rhythms. Like the calm before the storm, everything went silent. One might assume that time had actually stopped, but a keen eye would tell you otherwise.

The scene around you has slowed down for some reason. The minute details around you are more visible to you now. The cracks in the bark, the the shimmer in the leaves, the abyss of the forest... In your curiosity and down-right confusion, you explore the world around you by randomly following schizophrenic lines and patterns with you eyes. You're overwhelmed with what surrounds you. Nearby, however, you notice an odd darkness emanating from where Happiness lay.

The blood still leaks from the wound. It starts to puddle around the corpse and starts to flow through the earth. Everything it touches was instantly losing its color. It spills and continues to flow into streams and rivers. All that came into contact with that blackening sludge surrendered its color to it. The insects flee first, then the birds. Animals of all kinds from all directions evacuate the area as fast as they could. Nothing left around, save yourself, and all of what's left of nature - black.

The world it still frozen and you're walking through it aimlessly. Leaving the corpse behind you and venturing out deeper into the black belly of nature. Just beyond the hill, you reach a clearing and squint your eyes to see further. Your eyes catch the glare of something not far from you - it moves frantically. You're not sure, but you assume it must be panicking much like you are on the inside. You are curious, though, what is it, in this colorless world that could be so bright? You walk on, driven to find out. It's closer now, you can hear its tone. It sounds sort of like a bee, but not as intrusive. It's a lot mellower - like a harmonica. It's humming! It gets quite loud, you know you're so close. And as your heart trips over itself in this rush of adrenaline, it goes silent.

Distraught, you fall and lie watching the sun shine through black trees. In the branches, right above you, in plain sight, a hummingbird. It stood still on a branch for a split second before resuming its panicked flight in search of something. You notice it's moving between flowers. One branch to the next, it finds the flowers to inspect them, and turns to the next. It never touches them, just examines them from a distance, and moves on. It starts to move slower. It hits a branch in mid-flight. The hummingbird is weak. It attempts to recover back into flight, but falls to the ground, landing just over an arm's reach away.

Motionless.