A man squelched on a pathway where sharp spikes were strewn across and the whole stretch of land right in his sight was slimy and clammy, stained by blood, bar which everything seemed merely dark and white. Not knowing where he was, he mindlessly moved forth driven an uncanny and also irresistible power. The longer the way he covered, the more spacious the pathway seemed to be as if it knew no bound. Suddenly, some views of familiar figures appeared faintly not far off from him and excited by what was in his sight, he cried out thunderously at them at the top of his lung to ask them where they were heading and what the place it was but to no purpose as they were moving forthright with sheer determination, regardless of his shout as if they were deaf. The second attempt of shouting caused the same outcome and when he was about to try the third, he found he had no way to shout as he was instantly deprived of the ability of speech and meantime, those familiar figures, though walking as slowly as they could, were getting farther and farther from him. He accelerated his pace to narrow the gap between him and those but devoid of energy, he lost balance and fell over on the ground, by the streams of blood on which, his wrinkled, yellowed and fleshless visage with bones protruding everywhere was well reflected as he lay prostrate but was soon terrified by the reflection of his own face whereby he rose with a start. When he looked forth to try to search for those who were walking in front of him, he had no luck to see any of them and instead, an imposing and awe-inspiring gate appeared before him from nowhere. It was an arch, on top of which there was a marble inscribed with a sentence: ‘Go through the arch and abandon all your hopes here.’

TO BE CONTINUED...