The Demon

by Hubert Selby Jr.

and Harry still stared at the same spot, not seeing and not hearing the overwhelming beauty and joy of peace and love that surrounded him, but stayed so completely within himself that all he could feel was the pain and overwhelming despair that he found in the corners and dark recesses, and the huge cesspool that he felt he was, and could not get away from

and all that he could feel was an all-pervading sickness that seemed to flow through his body and into his arms and legs and fingers and bones and the sickness was almost visible within and its hideousness and grotesqueness fed itself and the sickness became more and more intolerable and all he could do was stay within himself and become more and more a part of his disease