# The Art and Story

*Part 1*

By [When the Lamb Lies Down by LongGhost](https://paragraph.com/@wtlld) · 2023-02-06

art, blockchain, web3

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### Part 1-Introduction

**A young character paces through a Manhattan Subway. The name is Rael. Not real, Rael. Spray cans clang together in a backpack.**

**Trains and strangers pass, a blank canvas wall is now full of color. Thoughts of the slums above fill Rael with heated anger. The hundreds of street sleepers, low-lives, busy workers, all moving a hundred miles a minute. Rael wonders where his brother John is at the moment. Never mind him, hide the spray can.**

**Now out of the subway, imperial aerosol kid, stepping into the New York streets in early 1982. Evening approaches, and Rael is looking for his next night fire. Though something is different about this evening. The rumbling trucks with wide eyed drivers are all gone, the Broadway neon signs are dimmed, and the street cars are all but devoid. A streaming mist covers the concrete as Rael steps out into the vacant street. Something is lying in the middle of the road in the distance, shrouded by a fine mist. He steps closer..**

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/0a48dda724b54d79f40d77a0998cdea8.jpg)

Rael in the Subway

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### **Part 2-The Lamb**

  
**Rael takes a step off the curb, almost tripping over his sneaker laces. Steam jetisons from manholes on suspension cracked road. Streetlights dimmed, though the neon broadway sign still shimmers. A figure lies still in the middle of the road. Even the neons begin to dim, and as the still shroud subsides, Rael sees the figure in full life.**

**A young lamb lies down on Broadway, seeming so out of place in the dank Manhattan suburbs. its face focused and lethargic, the lamb takes one look in rales direction before lowering its head and falling asleep.**

**beyond neon, beneath an ever watching sky, Rael stands still, gripped in an odd sort of shock. in his soul, he feels something approaching, an ebbing feeling of despair.**

**Rael looks up into the night sky, as violet clouds obscure a full moon. he backs away from the lamb slowly, looking sharply about himself, throwing his messy hair about his thin shoulders.**

**"John, where are you?", Rael shouts for his brother. While above in the distance a massive purple wall begins to form. imposing and larger than life, Rael turns and runs towards the alleys.**  

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/c939e14b29d970dd3163c0d5f21723da.jpg)

The Lamb on Broadway

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###   
Part 3-Past/Present

**Rael steps furiously through the steam, puling up his mask and goggles as an imposing force fills the space behind him. Whipping around a corner, he's met with a view of a vacant Times Square in complete blackness. The same imposing wall drops and approaches. In the street still he stands, hovering like a fly.**

**The walls press in upon him. Between past and present he is pushed, gliding up into a floating stasis. The world around him drips away, fizzling into final bits of colorful droplets. Upwards motion..**

**Him, me, us? A mirror walking before me?**  
**Warmth in my abdomen; is this a dream?**  
**Can I even speak? John?**  
  
**"I remember our fifth Birthday, do you? I just need some guidance, man. Back then, I looked up to you. Now that we're grown, I'm out here alone chasing a high and a power trip. If I'm being totally honest, I miss you a lot. Nothing has gone right for me lately. I thought you'd come looking for me. John, are you there?"**  
  
**Raels' body rises, as the scene beneath him shifts. His mind is flooded with memories.**  
  

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/ad7c8f88c149cef2db06f4b87a97f70a.gif)

Rael in flight

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*Originally published on [When the Lamb Lies Down by LongGhost](https://paragraph.com/@wtlld/wtlldstory)*