What Would the Storybooks Say
Jul. 18th, 2006 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shosenOnce upon a time, when war didn’t rampage across the lands, but was instead held in the hearts of the people, a young woman was walking through a forest that held a reputation for dangerous magic. She knew that she was talking a risk, but she was in a hurry, and what lay beyond the woods was all she had ever dreamed.
Even though this was a foolish decision, and she knew it, she didn’t bother to watch where she was going as she walked. The path wasn't clear, and on misstep later, she found herself tumbling head over feet down a tree covered hill until she landed with a crash in a crevice at the bottom.
"Hello?" she called out after she had managed to get to her feet. "Can anyone hear me?"
"I can hear you, childe," said a voice from the shadows around her, "and in this place, you ain't always wantin' an answer when you call."
"Who are you?"
"That don't matter, childe," the voice said. "What matters, is what I'm here for."
"What's that?" the woman asked, looking around and seeing nothing but the sheer walls of the cliffs.
"I'm here, to show you the way."
"The way out? Where is it?"
"Come now, childe, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" The voice chuckled. "Turn around."
The woman did so, and now, where there was once only a sheer cliff face, there were now three doors. "What are these?"
"Possibilities," the voice answered, "the only ones available from here."
"I don't understand."
"Two of these doors lead to sufferin', one to peace. You must choose."
"How can I tell which is which?"
"Normally, you can't. Such are the journeys of life." The voice sounded flippant.
"Normally?"
"This once, I think, you may ask, and I shall answer."
"Why?"
"I'm bored."
The woman turned to the first door. It was heavy, made of metal, gold with silver and gem borders. There was a heavy knocker in the centre, decorated with a rose seal. "Peace must surely lie behind this door. What form of suffering could be dressed as such?"
"A slow and subtle one, childe. Beyond that door lies wealth, prestige, and comfort, but each comes with loneliness, isolation, and neglect."
The woman shuddered, and moved to look at the next door. It was made of old wood, covered with tanned hide, and bordered with beads. The knocker in the centre was made of heavy bone. "This one does not look as though it holds peace."
"No, it holds sufferin' of a different kind. It holds entrapment, desperation, and despair. But with those it hides consolation and community, and perhaps even hope."
The woman continued on, and stopped before the final door in confusion. It was made of old and crumbled stone, draped with cobwebs, and a marble stone with the crest of a skull. "What sort of peace could possibly lie beyond here?"
"The eternal kind, the only kind that truly exists. Beyond that door lies nothin'. No hope, no despair, no sufferin', just peace. But, it's a peace you'll share with others, as your absence will create ripples in the pond as surely as your presence will."
"These are my choices?" the woman cried. "Are there no others?"
"Do you see any others, childe?" the voice said.
The woman looked at the steep walls again, before turning back to the doors. "Why is this happening?"
"Your own steps have led you here. You chose to walk in the woods, despite the warnin's. You chose to ignore your surroundin's, despite the danger, and so you fell to this. You brought yourself here, childe.
Now, choose."
Even though this was a foolish decision, and she knew it, she didn’t bother to watch where she was going as she walked. The path wasn't clear, and on misstep later, she found herself tumbling head over feet down a tree covered hill until she landed with a crash in a crevice at the bottom.
"Hello?" she called out after she had managed to get to her feet. "Can anyone hear me?"
"I can hear you, childe," said a voice from the shadows around her, "and in this place, you ain't always wantin' an answer when you call."
"Who are you?"
"That don't matter, childe," the voice said. "What matters, is what I'm here for."
"What's that?" the woman asked, looking around and seeing nothing but the sheer walls of the cliffs.
"I'm here, to show you the way."
"The way out? Where is it?"
"Come now, childe, you didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" The voice chuckled. "Turn around."
The woman did so, and now, where there was once only a sheer cliff face, there were now three doors. "What are these?"
"Possibilities," the voice answered, "the only ones available from here."
"I don't understand."
"Two of these doors lead to sufferin', one to peace. You must choose."
"How can I tell which is which?"
"Normally, you can't. Such are the journeys of life." The voice sounded flippant.
"Normally?"
"This once, I think, you may ask, and I shall answer."
"Why?"
"I'm bored."
The woman turned to the first door. It was heavy, made of metal, gold with silver and gem borders. There was a heavy knocker in the centre, decorated with a rose seal. "Peace must surely lie behind this door. What form of suffering could be dressed as such?"
"A slow and subtle one, childe. Beyond that door lies wealth, prestige, and comfort, but each comes with loneliness, isolation, and neglect."
The woman shuddered, and moved to look at the next door. It was made of old wood, covered with tanned hide, and bordered with beads. The knocker in the centre was made of heavy bone. "This one does not look as though it holds peace."
"No, it holds sufferin' of a different kind. It holds entrapment, desperation, and despair. But with those it hides consolation and community, and perhaps even hope."
The woman continued on, and stopped before the final door in confusion. It was made of old and crumbled stone, draped with cobwebs, and a marble stone with the crest of a skull. "What sort of peace could possibly lie beyond here?"
"The eternal kind, the only kind that truly exists. Beyond that door lies nothin'. No hope, no despair, no sufferin', just peace. But, it's a peace you'll share with others, as your absence will create ripples in the pond as surely as your presence will."
"These are my choices?" the woman cried. "Are there no others?"
"Do you see any others, childe?" the voice said.
The woman looked at the steep walls again, before turning back to the doors. "Why is this happening?"
"Your own steps have led you here. You chose to walk in the woods, despite the warnin's. You chose to ignore your surroundin's, despite the danger, and so you fell to this. You brought yourself here, childe.
Now, choose."