"My Second and Worse Self" - Final in the three-part series 'Jekyll & Hyde' - Mixed media on plywood. My 163rd painting.

 

I awoke in an alley, scuffled and displaced - dry in mouth, blank in mind. Precious few moments ticked past before returning to my former. Nearby laid a man - beaten, bloody and still. No movement of breath, perhaps departed of this world. Faint memories surface - the night previous - a harmless bump, a heated exchange, then violence and now Hell demands its due.

 
It was obvious he could no longer be given free rein. This rogue creature of such inhuman faculties, a beast for which there was no taming. If perchance I were to destroy the potion that gives him life I could resume living and regain my good standing in this world. There is but one dose left, one last venture - a final nail in this wretch’s coffin.

I make hastened disposal of this most ungodly brew and brace for its tremendous effects. The usual onset - a tumble to all fours, writhing on the ground, incoherent babbling and frothing at the mouth - finally, a span of unconsciousness. A brief but pained journey. Then, reanimation.

Once more to my feet, I put the sorrow behind me, embracing the life I should have never abandoned. One that led me true and gave purpose. I settle gently into the man I have always been, not the farce that kept me hiding in the shadows.

This liberation, so beautifully intoxicating. Cordial, welcoming. A summons to return Home. May the decrepit corpse that held me hostage die its death. For I am born anew - into the existence made for me by God’s very own hand. I am that which always was.

I - am Hyde.