The presence of the hole didn’t take me by surprise; I had wandered through these woods daily for the past seven years and watched it slowly being carved through the earth. It was just a divot at first, really, and was simple to ignore. With each day though, it became a little deeper, wider, and more demanding that I notice it. As the hole expanded, I watched the once pristine forest change around me. Sadness, fear, and confusion gripped me as the tall, sturdy trees morphed into hideous gray forms. Their trunks twisted and slumped while their limbs tangled into webs that blocked out light and made side trails dangerous, if not impossible, to traverse. The air had long since soured and the myriad of birds’ songs had silenced. There was only this one path now, that led to this ever deepening, widening hole. I found myself gazing into it more often, until this morning when I finally ventured into it. I took one last look at the polluted, grotesque woods and slowly slipped off toward oblivion.