Despair.

Dream was looking into the pit of Despair. It’s been a little while now. Despair always lurking in the darkest of the corners, took her own time to confront Dream.

“What do you seek in these dark pits of mine? A fellow as you I hardly see around here. I’m at all but curious to know what is that you wish to seek in these stagnant waters where only Misery and Guilt washes themselves.”

Dream sat there as though he was oblivious to the voice of Despair. He couldn’t reason anything on his mind that is now all too focused on a spot among the darkness of the pit, not on the surface neither in the depths. But somewhere in between where his eyes were focused but couldn’t see yet. Despair intrigued by the sadness seeping out of Dreams eyes, walked over to him with a fondness to feed off it.

Sitting beside him still wet and wetness spilling all over, she spread her cold palm of her left hand over his shoulder. Even the sudden chill didn’t seem to diverge his unattended focus.

“Look as far and off you want, for you’ll not find what you seek. All that is here are that is lost, for no one needs to hoard on these things. Let me not tell what is that you need to hear. You are most welcome to swim into the deepest within with the writhing cold of my body. It’s hard to see if it’s even day or night from the bottom of this puddle. I wouldn’t mind your company. But I’ll tell you this, only once I swam to the bottom when I came here swimming with Will, got lost and never again I found him. It’s easier to realise that he could have walked away after a while waiting on the banks. But I’m worried, what if he drowned looking to save me and still trying to catch his breath somewhere deep down.” Her eyes welled with tears only to freeze and glisten in the moonlight.

Dream said, “I do come here at times to bath and wash away that’s weighing me down. But for a long time had passed since last and there’s a lot more of me in there than what’s on me. But tonight I have a weight pulling me within, stronger than ever or at least I think so. So I came to find if there was any, much worse, that I have warded off in here. I’d wish I could swim with you down into these pits and never climb ashore. But then I realise I had made you walk these banks and as that may seem, may be you find your Will one day and walk off here. And in that I find a thread with which I have been drawn away from this night with a glimmering red gleaming off the edge in the dawning sky of everyday.”

Dream walked away without even yielding a glance towards Despair. Then she was lost on her own, finding the vision of light over the horizon in a long while.

Answer.

“What are you looking for?” asked Nature. The disillusioned Dream staring into the oblivion uttered a senseless “Hope!”.

“Are you hoping to dream or dreaming of Hope?”, said Nature like it was playing a game. Dream was out of words, or more like tired of uttering them, was looking for a mono syllable word to answer her. Such a nurturing being Nature is, couldn’t resist to bother him more. “Tell me about this Hope”. Dream sensed the smile trying to creep into his lips like a crab sneaking out after the wave. Hiding it, “She gives you hope, a sense, a direction, a dwindling beam in the dense dark forest. Might be even momentary but shows signs of purpose, where there is none. Even sometimes misleading, you can never distrust her”.

“So why do you miss her, do you lack direction or purpose?”

“I don’t miss her. You can’t, no one can. She’s the warmth of life, lying in the living tissue, breathing life into your soul. If you miss her you might be dead, dead inside. At least I don’t miss her, yet.”

Dream was unnerved. It went on to ask nature. “Have you ever wondered what is your purpose?”

“Sure, keep doing what I do, as long as I want to”

“But how do you know that you want to, and what if you don’t want it anymore? Do you even realise it?”

“You have too many questions that no one has answers to.”

“If not for answers, what are questions for?”

But slowly Dream began to understand, that all it had was questions. It was not as much as Curiosity had, but it was too much for anyone to bear. Also it sensed why it missed and looking for hope. Dream spoke to the interested Nature.

“I’m not looking for answers, I’m just looking for directions. For it is not my purpose to find answers. I’m the purpose for which the answers need to be found.”

It went on. “I’m not the key, I’m barely the lock. I’m not even what the door guards, but just the perception of what lies behind those doors. But if not for hope, I’ll be just an empty black void before even the door is unlocked”

Purpose.

Dream decided to take a stroll around the park somewhere no one would find him. He didn’t expect it to be too dark at that time. He didn’t consult with time, it was all of a sudden decision. He looked around to find darkness, may be request to leave him alone. Not that he was alone, he was already surrounded by nature, but she would understand his thoughts, its only natural. After a moment of searching he realised he was already surrounded by him. Politely he did ask, but all he could hear was laughter. Dream felt like he was being bullied again. But nature whispered to him, that it wasn’t Darkness he was talking to. She explained, it’s not dark because of Darkness but the absence of Light. The problem was not that Dream needed light but was too get rid of Darkness. Since he was already out of the picture, he wondered who would that be laughing at him. It is Eternity, whispered nature. Dream was pissed at first, later came the realisation as usual. It decided to post the question that was bothering him to the wisest being, the all eternal Eternity. “Dear Eternity, the wisest of us all, the one without beginning and end, infinitum ad infinitum, I have a question that’s been bothering me forever from the moment I met Thought. Would you care to help me sort it, else forever I’ll be glomming over it.” Eternity said, “Sure”. “I don’t understand what is my function, when most of the time I fail. I have the worst failure rate, you should know that already. I can’t assimilate why I do what I do, giving Hope false directions and now she is hooked up with Depression. I don’t know what is the purpose of my existence.”

Eternity said, “But you are the purpose of existence!”