Beyond the realm of time and distance and in a place so close but so far away, there is a tree. A special tree that is grand in stature but as gray as the ominous sky. A tree that has grown, but never taken breath or preened in the sun. A tree that was born on a dark October day when time stopped to rest. There it stayed for how long, no one knows because when time stops, eternity passes in a sigh. When time woke again, the tree was surrounded by life and though the sun shined, the tree was still shadowed and gray.
Hungry beasts with gnarling teeth and high, shrill screams tried to cut down the tree, but it would not budge. Soon, the tree was forgotten, but inside, it grew….and grew for within was a tragedy that knew no age. Greedy for knowledge, it burned as it learned. The more it knew, the more it grew until a hole appeared outside of it.
There, in that hole, approximately six feet in the air at the rough base of a thick gray branch was the hole that you would crawl, and quickly inside, you would fall and then land in a house of mystery. Filled with the webs of deadly spiders, the room was barely lit by the sunlight burning through a pair of thick, aged lace curtains. The room appears small because of the clutter inside it.
Directly in the center of the room sat a chair; dust-covered and tan, it was plush and cushioned with a draping curtain at the bottom and a dark wooden lever attached to the side. Behind it is a painting fastened to the wall, but you can’t make out what it is. Beside it is a small table with a lamp and a bookshelf. A staircase towers above, leading to a single door above, and beside the bookshelf is another door as well. Choose carefully because one, you will never leave. The door downstairs is the kitchen, where not even the door you walk in is there. Above is a bedroom with two doors. The one you came in and one leading forward. Each door leads to a different room that changes each time you pass through. You will never find him unless you stop looking.
When you realize your mistake, you will fall again. Down into darkness, into a room with no walls. There, you will feel him, his breath on your cheek, but you can see nothing. You wait for him to speak.
“I have been waiting for you,” He whispers. His voice echoes throughout the room and fearfully, you try to find him, to see him. But there is nothing to be seen—no light to guide you.
“Where am I?” you ask as you feel the roar of thunder and the floor beneath you shake. When you hear no response, you demand louder, “What is this place?”
“You are beyond the limits of time and the boundaries of life. Though the sun shines outside, there is only darkness in here, the seed of my pain.” His voice moves as he speaks, and you turn your head fearfully to the sound. “You have gone to great lengths to find me. Now that you have found me, what do you want to do with me?”
written by You may also want to read