Voyage Into the Veil

Alas, this wandering would yield my final musings as everything else has deteriorated inside what remains of my fragile mind. I can feel the memories slipping and in a way, this reveals a more stripped-down version of reality than what appeared before. This long, arduous journey seems to have forgotten to yield a climax. Is there a point in continuing a search that is missing a destination? To find that treasure it is important to discover the workings of the mysterious veil around you.

How do I become?

My thinking is interrupted by a reverberating sound. Looking around I try to get my bearings but have trouble adjusting to my new scenery. Where do the walls begin and end? How did I arrive? I realize I'm in a corridor covered by shadow. The sound echoes again, and this time catches me off-guard. An illuminating glow catches the attention of my peripherals as I finally find something recognizable. A motionless silhouette of a man appears before me.

He's a good distance away and I struggle to close the distance to him as my legs become jelly. Am I paralyzed by fear? I eventually reach the man draped in black as the sound engages my curiosity. The gaps filled in by darkness start to fill with light as my eyes slowly adjust to the image. I now understand that I'm standing behind him and see only the back of his head. Walking around him, I notice his arms are moving and that the noise was that of a man clapping.

His eyes glow brilliantly with different colors as both eyes display miniature pictures like that of a projector. I turn around and see blurry images bouncing off a wall of a little boy excitingly holding a trophy. From what I can tell, it looks like they have won a game of some sort. The clapping sound fills the hall once more as I turn around only to see that he has no hands. He smiles and I feel a strangely familiar sense of warmth as his arms continue moving inward and outward in a molasses-like motion. I decide to pause for a while to take in what I was experiencing. Does he know he has no hands?

The sounds and images vanished as I saw myself in a bright, white void of nothingness, if only for a brief moment. The black outline of a doorway traced itself into the empty space surrounding me as my vision returned to my body. My hand reaches for the door expecting a doorknob that isn't there. I'm not meant to go in there. I hear the sound of a door creaking open as I turn to my left and see an average room. Desperate to leave the emptiness, I stumble into the room.

In the far left corner lies a bed with its headboard adjacent to the wall. The bed itself is neatly folded with the sheets tucked in and the pillows on top waiting patiently for the host's return. On the floor lies a few scattered toys with no hope of seeing a toy box. The light from outside continues to fill the room as I notice picture frames gleaming on a dresser. The photos inside are memories stamped into celluloid of a time a place special to someone. I notice dust lightly feathering the center of the frames as if the air in this room had been still for quite some time.

My attention is drawn back to the bed as it appears a bit more disheveled than before. The light hasn't changed. The toys are still there. The framed photos now have much more dust. The air is now thick and musky. My lungs struggle to adjust. How long have I been here? I don't recognize the room or anyone in the photographs but again, feel a familiar warmth. I am dazed by the room's defiance to age. Everything remaining the same. Just a little different.

The light outside grows dim as the trees wave their gnarly branches at me, beckoning my attention. The time is trickling away into the evening now. What do the trees have in store for me? The window props itself open to alleviate the congestion and exposes an entryway unto the outside world. I'm not sure if I should take it but the tantalizing thrill of exploration motivates my footsteps. I use both hands to grab onto the window pane and hoist myself into familiar territory.

The smell of rain in the air is a refreshing reprieve from before. I look around and see multicolored leaves on the ground as they decay onto concrete. The street is adorned with the standard lights and sidewalks one is accustomed to seeing in their everyday life. This, like the room, feels out of time and place sitting here unbeknownst to conscious minds. A tiny space buried deep inside the clouds where no one can find it. Just the way it should be. I close my eyes and a feeling of content travels through my body as I begin to feel connected with it all.

After my eyes open, the darkness remains. No! I shouldn't have closed my eyes! It felt like this was where I was meant to be. This has signified change to come. The man who claps, the timeless room, the natural beauty of the outside world... where was I going? What was to come next? It was at this moment, I registered that the sun hadn't actually set. Just above where the skyline should be, in the obscurity surrounding it, I spotted an aura around a black hole in the sky.

The light on the edge whipped along the edges of the circular disc. My body begins to discern a reflection in temperature. I feel cold but my continued mesmerization of the cosmic dance has left me in a pure state of awe. Strangely enough, I don't perceive pain as my eyes soak up what remains of the sun. How does this happen so perfectly? What causes an alignment of this magnitude to coincide? Again, why am I here?

The chattering of my teeth has accompanied the sound of sloshing water. I look down and barely make out a reflection of small, rippling waves. From afar, there's a voice urging me to continue into the water. I can't see where it's coming from so I do as they say. The water is now waste-high as I try to see where this voice is coming from. Oddly, the water warms me as I traverse further into the depths of the sea. The only indication of my state of being is the light from the eclipse bouncing off of my skin.

I wade through the water but I can't tell how far I'm going or where to go. The whispy voice again calls for me. I can't help but believe I am a sailor being lured in by sirens. At long last, I see the shape of a small, wooden boat on the horizon. I turn around to see just how far I'd come but unsurprisingly don't see anything behind me. I must continue onward.

I muster up the remaining strength I have to power myself to the boat. With every push through the water, I am anxious for my ultimate destination. What waits for me on the other side? What else is there to discover? The surface of the sea glitters with light and fills my soul. Everything that's happened has been beyond me and the understanding of life I once thought I knew. This journey of self-discovery was so abstract, yet completely intact with its mission.

All of this time I was going through memories that seem separated from reality or people as I knew them. I picture them as snowglobes with time trapped inside of them. My arms grow weary. I look up to see how close I am to the boat. The boat has remained the same distance since my first sighting. What will the boat reveal to me? What other passengers have embellished the wooden seats? Their stories and secrets are waiting to be discovered once more. I have to reach the end.

I continue to trudge on and notice that the sky hasn't changed and neither has the water, nor the boat on the horizon. It feels like it's been days. I'm exhausted. The boat's purpose feels like an unattainable McGuffin. Perhaps I'm not meant to reach the end. What a reflection this journey has been! I believe I could relax here a while and dream of the snowglobes under the firey pitch-black sky. Upon knowing my thoughts, I feel the sea shiver.

Alas, this wondering would yield my final musings as everything else has begun deteriorating inside what remains of my fragile mind. I can feel the memories slipping and in a way, this reveals a more stripped-down version of reality than what appeared before. These memories are all I have. This long, arduous journey seems to have forgotten to yield a climax. Is there a point in continuing a search that is missing a destination?