The forbidden glimpse

There, dancing in the shadows, where no one can see you, not even you, there, you can be anything. Don’t let the light come through, for then you will become.

It wasn’t difficult for her to get along with Albert. He was talkative, and time had passed several times already. Albert had promised to take her to “the best place around here”, but apparently it was taking longer than expected.

“Aha! I knew it, we’re almost there”. Time passed again, and gave her a look of compassion. Alfred was looking at his feet, smiling. She followed his gaze. A vein, the width of her arm, slithered through the surface, throbbing and emitting an eerie light. After a few meters, it dived into the surface.

Just beside, a dark gorge emerged, illuminated by many of those veins commanding a view from the sides. “This is it”, said Albert, as he walked towards it. They’d definitely not been there before, so this was a good sign.

Orientation was not Albert’s only problem however. The Confluence is a sanctuary of the mind, and as such it’s designed to preserve sanity. The outskirts play tricks on travellers to prevent them from reaching the walls of the dome. These illusions persisted even if they were trying to move away from the walls.

A light slowly appeared at the other end of the gorge. As she stepped outside, a soft wind caressed her feminine outline, a wind she would not notice. Her full attention was on what her eyes were witnessing. An intensely glowing river flowed upstream a massive cliff, together stabbing the dome and dissapearing into The Steam. The veins rushed towards the riverside, where they converged and blossomed into golden dust.

In the other direction, the river merged with the horizon, still glowing in the distance. Before she could turn to Albert, her attention was captured by the sight of a figure, standing by the riverside, among the screen of golden dust. She distinguished a ragged cape, a broad-brimmed hat and a wooden fishing rod.

The blossoms stopped. Albert stood still, frozen. Her will vanished as she started walking towards that figure. The golden dust settled, almost as if giving way for her to reach its side. The hat covered its face. “Why did you do this?”, she said, almost in tears. The figure looked up, and a glaring, featureless visage dazzled her.

She felt the wind once again. “Isn’t it beautiful?”, Albert looked at her, smiling.