Silently, I tiptoe, soft thumping sound on the wooden steps. The last step creeks and I halt.
A rat scurries in front of me, squeaking noisily in the silent stuffy air.
There is dust and cobwebs and I can smell dirt. Everything feels dry and smutty. I open the window on my left, trying to let the sunlight in. But there is no sun or light.
There is this midnight blue darkness outside, stars twinkling in the distance. I stand watching the scene. There is a small star, a tiny fleck in the distance, shining much more brightly than the sun ever has. There is another star, possibly a planet, a dim amber one. Soft misty streaks of smoke form rings around it.
I hear something. A meak sound. Something like a violin playing. But its not clear. It sounds melancholic.
On the far side of the ringed planet, there is darkness. Complete darkness without the glowing stars. There is blackness. Not midnight blue dark but as dark as death itself. The darkness revolves around itself, forming a whirlpool.
Just in its middle, I see something shining. I squint, trying to see if I can make what I'm seeing but the more I look, the more I feel being sucked into that abyss.
I turn back, onto the wooden stairs. When I reach the top, I see moss covering the roof and the walls and the floor. Amid the green fluorescence, there are tiny white flowers, growing upside down on the roof.
I walk forward. My feet, now grazing the mossy wood. A drop of water falls on my forehead. I look up. The dew from cala lilies is dripping down.
There is a greenish gloom all around me. As if the plantation itself is luminous.
In front of me is a door. A door carved from wood. A door larger than me. Small florets are intricately carved on it. It was once painted. It was once pretty. Now it is ruined. Ruined but pretty. The pink and red hue of the florets is chipped and faded. My hands trace the vines engraved on it. I grasp the brass door knob. It is icy cold in my hands. I push the door open. There is nothing but darkness here.
I yell into nothingness. Someone answers. My own echo.
I step inside and the door closes behind me with a loud thud. I fumble here for some time. Trying to find something to hold on to, but there seems to be nothing. Maybe I have landed myself in some vacant space. Space so empty that it wouldn't even hold light. I hear something. A sound crystal clear. A violin playing. Somewhere far away. It is melancholic. But beautiful. I try to follow the sound.
But I trip over something. I don't know what it is. But I land in what feels like silky sand. And a light bobs in front of my eyes. I stare at it. It's not a bulb. It's not a lantern. I blink my eyes several times. It is just a small yellow blob of faint light.
I try to touch it but my hand goes right through it. I stand up.
The light rises up and up and finally disappears.
Just then the room lights up. Not due to electricity. It's natural light coming from above the ocean surface.
There is water and water around me. The sand beneath my feet tickles my soles. My hair floats around me. I can still see. I can still breathe. I look around. Waves of blue green water move toward me and push me back. Some distance from me, there is a ship. A wrecked ship lying on the ocean floor. The sail is torn apart and reduced to mere rags. The mast is rotten. The ship is broken into two. The wooden planks are deformed by the water currents. I swim closer to the ruins. Algal bloom covers the surface. It looks beautiful. Ruined but beautiful. Just beside it, there is a pink coral colony. A colony so huge and enchanting that it boggles the mind. There is a shoal of fish gathered around the colony. They are small and brightly colored. They seem to float with the ocean tides, their motion smooth and silky. Suddenly, a large fish comes round the corner. A shark. A shark with a white belly and black fins. The fish scatter. Some hide into the colony, others flee the site altogether. They are fast. But the shark is faster. It lunges at the shoal, and streams of water, tainted red escapes its jaws. The clean and clear water now turns murky with bright red splotches. The shark waves its head here and there and then swims away. As silently as it appeared.
Without realizing I have floated near the ship wreck. I step inside the large crack in its middle, grasping the plants growing inside. There are barrels and anchors, all covered with algae. There is a small trunk, green vines have taken hold of it. The wooden planks seem as if they will break any moment. I move forward, without stopping to look at my surroundings. Then I am in the captain's cabin. There is no water here. My hair is wet. My clothes are wet. But I do not grasp the air.
There is the ship's wheel, slightly broken and covered with moss. I look at the captain's seat. Instead of one, there are two seats. Beside one of them, is a silhouette. A dark silhouette of a person. His hair is flowing around his face and his feet are netted firmly to the wood below us. I move closer. He raises his hand towards me as if wanting to lead me somewhere. I recognize the figure then. A friend. I step forward and hold his hand.
I do not feel right. When I look at my hand, I see that I am holding a fist of sand instead of a friend's hand. I look ahead. The figure dissolves slowly, turning into sand. The sand flows down, not settling on the wooden planks but slipping down from the creaks. I stand there, alone once again.
I move away. I look outside the round porthole glass window of the ship. There is midnight blue darkness outside and tiny flecks of stars are glowing in distance. There is the sound of a violin playing. It is melancholic yet beautiful. I sigh. The Mind is a horrible place to be.
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