mo(u)rning, pt. v

I dreamt I was traveling along a familiar road, only to find the road impassable. So I did what you do when your way is barred, and searched for an alternate route. I knew there was a tunnel nearby, down a steep stair which was designed to appear functional at a glance, but as I descended I found that the rails which appeared to be there to aid lost travelers actually blocked the way forward. Despite the obstacles I reached the bottom, and quickly found the entrance to the tunnel. But something kept me from taking the safe, certain path. Something drove me to explore.

Not too far from the beaten path was the twisted entrance to a cavern, one I would need to contort myself in order to enter. My adventurous spirit from just moments before faded away, replaced with a sense of dread. I didn't know where this cavern might lead, but it was not anywhere good. Shaken to my core, I resolved to depart, only to be waylaid by two old women, who seemed impossibly tall despite not appearing any larger than an ordinary person. They chastised me for my cowardice, cautioned me that if I took the safe path the consequences could be dire, but at that point all I wanted was to find my way home. With their taunts and warnings echoing in my mind, I turned away, from the sinister entrance, from the wisdom of crones, from the dream itself, and awoke with the profound sense that by making that choice I had lost something vital, and that if I did not commit this revelation to dream the soft nepenthe of the morning would deny me even that.