“All the world will be your enemy, Prince with a Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first they must catch you…”

— Richard Adams

There’s a moment in one of my favorite books, Watership Down, that reminds me of the point in the game we’re at now. (And if you’ve never read the novel or seen the 1978 animated movie, I highly recommend both. Just don’t assume that cartoon bunnies are suitable fare for younger kids, however, because the film’s pretty dark, bloody, and violent.)

Bigwig, the toughest fighter among the hero rabbits of the tale, has acquitted himself in battle far better than his opponent, the much larger General Woundwort, expected. And though bloodied and badly wounded, Bigwig uses a break in the fighting to reposition himself for a final face-off. When Woundwort returns to kill him, the general realizes that’s going to be much harder than he’d bargained for and offers to let Bigwig live if he’ll switch sides.

“My Chief Rabbit has told me to defend this run,” Bigwig replies, “and until he says otherwise I shall stay here.”

And oh, does he.

That’s about where we are in this Thing of Ours, friends. We passed the milestone of 500 fallen four days ago, and we’re steadily marching toward 600 today. We’re hurting, we’re tired, and we’re not sure who’s going to make it when so many haven’t.

But we’re here. And that stinkin’ kid better watch his ass, lest we knock him on it to get to the daylight behind him.

Hang tough, people. We’re not far now.

Do it for yourselves.

For those no longer with us.

For Peter.

Look sharp, stay vigilant, and cross that line as one.

But as always, should you fall, fill out the reporting form (https://bit.ly/LDBCform), share an LDBC-elfie by commenting on a Facebook page post, or tweet it out and tag @LDBChallenge.

(And my apologies for the inability to create a new post on the page; I’ve checked every setting, and though you should be able to, you can’t. I blame Zuck.)

We’re almost there, folks.

LDBC-Elfies: A Chronicle of Faces Fallen