Warm, radiant sun in the sky, light streaming down in rays of brilliance. Cool, firm ground underfoot gives way to nothingness. Spiraling into the dark I fall. Light vanishes and as darkness rushes in. I am groping feverishly for some sense of location. Light shimmers in to see the myriad roads and twisting walkways. Crossing, turning, circling. Sharp, dull rocks and gravel seem to make a winding city of stone. Taking a promising path I find myself back where I began.

Roads vanish to reveal the vast interior of a cave. The distant sound of a drop of water dropping into a distant puddle sounds like the crash of thunder. Turning, struggling to discern the source of the sound. The drops seem to fall gently yet loudly and reverberate all around me. I walk and my footsteps, as if to accompany the song of water, rhythmically sound again and again. Walk and walk with no direction; water
is all around. Puddles rise up and dissipate into a thick oppressive fog. Lingering sheets of smoke change the landscape into vague outlines. Walls occasionally
materializing like a mountain side emerging from deep within a light, fluffy cloud. The fog pulls closer, a flapping sound like that of a million leafs rustling in a passing breeze can be heard. I spin around desperately trying to see, to know what happens. The cave suddenly fills with a cloud of darkness as the bats descend. In every possible
direction leathery wings brushing me, leading me away and pulling me back. Together the dark, hairy minions of misdirection down the hall in which I now find myself. Doors, open and closed. Doorways to infinity, the hall has no end. Rushing back and forth through doors and around corners. Frantically pulling at decrepit doors whose handles rattle and jerk like irritated animals. A universe of doors and nowhere to go.

Running and thinking, the sound of footfalls convey a sense of purpose but not a sense of direction. Slow, lazy steps unsure of where they should land. Sleep beckons and falling to the ground, the world above spins away. Back up to my feet in hope of an exit. Back down to the floor as I see the bats swirling in again, ready to pull me back to confusion.

Sebastian Ortiz, gr. 9