the centipede

As i stumbled along a dirt road about twenty miles south of Zhangjiakou in the Hebei province of China i noticed the remenants of a path leading west, off of the road. It was barely visible, overgrown with weeds and shrubs.As i ventured further i saw glimpses of red through the brush and there just a ways from the path was a shrine near an old tree. It was about four feet tall, the red and black paint that had once been used to decorate it had all but worn away except for a few spots here and there. A large insect adorned the top, long thin and wormlike with what looked like a thousand legs. In the middle of the shrine was an indentation of a door. I slowly pulled the piece of wood open and knew then the secrets i had coveted for years, the patience, the sacrifice, had finally paid off.