Haunted Page

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& \text{You realize it all remains the same, but with an asterisk.}^{} \
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& \rule{14cm}{0.25mm} \
& ^{} ; \text{You realize your asterisk isn't what, in fact, mattered. It's the sentence your asterisk} \
& ; ; , \text{augmented that actually mattered. Perhaps, now, that sentence seems to remain $all$ that} \
& ; ; , \text{matters, still, asterisk aside.$^†$} \

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& \quad \quad \text{$^†$} ; \text{You may delude yourself into believing you should have foreseen the shape of it, your} \
& \quad \quad ; ; , \text{asterisk,$^‡$ and you may even have trouble forgiving yourself, ruminating over such} \
& \quad \quad ; ; , \text{past naïveté.} \

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& \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^‡$} ; \text{In the present, awake at last to your asterisk's true form, perhaps you find some} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad ; ; , \text{peripheral meaning in the way the light hits your sentence through that asterisk$^‖$} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad ; ; , \text{at certain times of the day. And in the way you see your sentence now, filtered} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad ; ; , \text{through your asterisk's shadow.$^¶$} \

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& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^‖$} ; \text{It remains a distinct vision you never anticipated, never could have seen,} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad ; ; \text{never in exact detail, despite the brilliance of your ambition, clear as} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad ; ; \text{sunlight through backwater, evident in the asterisk itself.$^#$} \

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& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^¶$} ; \text{The ghost of your ambition, the mother asterisk,$^Δ$ may haunt you forever,} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad ; ; ; \text{should you fail to release it.} \

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& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^#$} ; \text{To release this ghost, repeat the following mantra: ``I release.''} \

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& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{$^Δ$} ; \text{You failed to recognize an asterisk. In failure, your asterisk becomes} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{irrelevant. It never changed the meaning of your sentence because that} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{sentence was the only thing that ever mattered, and it is all that matters} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{now. Be proud for remaining unable to anticipate an asterisk. You can} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{find no meaning in the way the light hits your sentence through any} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{asterisk at any time of the day. But meaning is overrated. Hold on to this} \
& \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \quad \text{asterisk$^*$ and let it haunt you forever. Never repeat the mantra, ``I release.''} \

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