Gasp--lapse   “Couldn’t be… I mean…”      Cracked-head-Alice lies under the ladder   Radio-Alice has cut and skipped off.   “I mean…”   Striking bitter fits. “Fits! I said Fits!” said Fitz.   Store up stutter, mutter in the dark. Gasp--lapse   “Couldn’t be… I mean…”      Stitched up sick-Alice walking with Ellen.   High hoop steps and puddle stretched rings.   Paul and Fitz in ribbons again. Sevrin’s in the corner with the Greek and a grin. Gasp--lapse   “Couldn’t be… I mean…   I don’t know yet, and yet I know… bodies best pressed.”   “Bodies best pressed? So hug me and hold me and tell me that you won’t let go!”   So hug me and hold me and tell me you won’t let go.   Gasp, I mean, lapse, I mean gasp--lapse   “Couldn’t be… I mean…”      Flip switch. Mutter in the dark. Shuddering one stroke. Mutter in the dark. Footsteps. The path below. High hoop steps. Puddle stretched rings. Mutter in the dark. Mumble in the dark. Muddle in the dark.    “Well, I don’t know…”   “If you don’t know…”   “Well, I don’t know.”   “You don’t know?”   “No. I don’t know.”   “And yet I know, if you don’t know… well… I don’t know!”   “If… you... don’t know…”   “Well, I don’t know.”