And ever after pulls on me, pulls in a thousand different directions at once. I am yanked toward a mesmerizing green orb of confusion just as I am pulled toward another abstract concept, solidified in my not-quite-awake mind.

The old friend calls out to me from the beyond, chanting for my return, my removal from this distant memory, this far-off imaginary world. The doors are all open, the light pours in like syrup, penetrating every minuscule corner as it slowly flows to envelope the entire room.

I glide down the hallway. My feet appear to be moving, or perhaps shaking, or perhaps not there at all. I have no true consciousness, I see only what I tell myself to see.

But the walls suddenly crumble, and the destruction of the entire universe is apparent. The apocalypse is coming, and I am calm. For the old friend of mine is waiting for me, waiting for me in whatever world I may create with my unbridled imagination.

I imagine peace, war, light, dark, and every shade of existence in between.

It is beautiful.