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This post was originally published through Patreon on March 29, 2017.
Darkness surrounds me. I see only a silver flight of stairs that ascends into endless black. Only one thing is clear: there’s nowhere to go but up.
I begin to climb.
Each step is illuminated, and I look around and try to find the source of the light. But it’s a mystery. Just like this place. Just like myself.
It seems that hours pass before I finally stop to catch my breath, and when I do, I glance back to discover an infinite expanse of metallic steps, sinking down into the blackness below. Meanwhile, the air up here is warm and humid. I reach to wipe sweat from my brow, and that’s when I hear them for the first time. Voices, whispering beyond the void.
Cautious, I continue to climb.
One voice in particular distinguishes itself from the rest. A woman. The sound is warm, inviting.
“Life,” I hear her say, and then broken shards of memory invade me, flashing before my eyes. They are remnants of a time outside the darkness, and for a moment, I almost remember who I am.
I’m afraid, but the comforting voice urges me to continue.
The humidity has become a pressure cooking heat. Sweat pours from my face and neck like a river.
“Life,” she repeats. The word terrifies me even as it gives me strength, and I find myself scrambling up the steps two, even three at a time.
“Life. Life. Life.” The other voices have joined with the first, merging into a single-minded chant, an otherworldly chorus that makes the hairs on my neck stand on end.
A beam shines above me now, not far from where I stand. The heat has become unbearable, yet I know I must press forward. All the while, the voices cheer me on.
My skin feels like it’s catching fire, and I can no longer breathe. I wobble, teeter, and for a moment I fear I’ll fall, that I’ll tumble down and down, all the way to the distant and forgotten bottom.
That’s when I see her, a woman clothed in white, iridescent robes, descending from the light like an angel.
“Don’t be afraid,” she says, taking my hand. “I’ll help you.”
Power surges through me at her touch. I’m in agony, yet I find I now have the strength to go on. Face covered in sweat, I climb the last step, reach out, and push through.
A solar flare: coruscating, blinding. The impurities of my old life burn away, until I am a part of the fire.
It no longer hurts. Instead, love and life surround me, welcoming me home. A column of white robed figures chant my name. My encouragers. They smile, and I greet each as an old friend.
“Well done,” says the woman who helped me through. Transfigured, she has become more beautiful than I could have possibly imagined.
My old life is over, and my new life has just begun.
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