True, Sebastian looks like a man–a rather perfect example of one, actually, like this rival just casually stepped down one of the marble steps that leads up to Mount Olympus. But beneath all that exquisitely-rendered muscle and skin, below the perfect facsimiles of eyes and lips and tongue was the shadow of the truth: that this rival was a lie. Sebastian is not a man but a thing, carefully constructed; an artificial answer to the fundamental need contained within the heart (and loins) of every being. 
     But I didn't care. I had had enough of truth and life, by this point.

2758 words (MM)
Cover art by Jai Prompito