**Episode Sixty Seven**
**THE DESIRE THAT DREAMED BACK**
**Part Eight: THE WATCHER WATCHES BACK**
---
The door...
was open.
Not completely.
Just enough...
for something on the other side...
to look through.
Nobody moved.
Not Tarzan.
Not Milo.
Not Diana.
Not Gandalf.
Not Arjun.
Not the Keeper.
Not even the Walker.
The red door...
stood in the middle of nowhere.
No wall surrounded it.
No building.
No ground.
Just...
a door.
Floating inside the darkness.
Its four words remained carved across its surface.
DO NOT CHOOSE THIS.
Tarzan stared at them.
Then looked at the Walker.
"...WHY WOULD YOU PUT THAT THERE?"
The Walker frowned.
"I didn't."
Tarzan pointed.
"THEN WHO DID?"
Nobody answered.
The door creaked.
Everyone stepped backward.
Except Tarzan.
He stepped forward.
Milo grabbed his shoulder.
"No."
Tarzan looked at him.
"WHY?"
"Because the door literally says not to."
Tarzan thought about this.
Then nodded.
"GOOD POINT."
He stepped backward.
The door creaked again.
Tarzan looked at it.
The door stopped.
Tarzan stepped forward.
The door creaked.
Tarzan stepped backward.
The door creaked again.
Tarzan frowned.
"...IT'S MOCKING ME."
Milo adjusted his glasses.
"Probably."
Tarzan pointed.
"I DON'T LIKE IT."
Gandalf smiled.
"Neither do I."
Diana looked at the inscription.
"There is something wrong with the wording."
Arjun turned toward her.
"What?"
She touched the letters.
"They didn't write..."
She paused.
"...'DO NOT OPEN THIS.'"
Milo nodded.
"They wrote..."
"DO NOT CHOOSE THIS."
Silence.
The Keeper whispered...
"Which means..."
The Walker finished.
"The door isn't warning us."
He looked into the darkness.
"It's challenging us."
1. THE DOOR THAT WANTED TO BE CHOSEN
The red door...
opened another inch.
A warm light appeared beyond it.
Not white.
Not golden.
Red.
Like sunlight passing through blood.
Diana stepped closer.
"What is behind it?"
The Walker shook his head.
"I don't know."
Milo stared at him.
"You don't know?"
"No."
"That's impossible."
The Walker looked at him.
"Is it?"
Milo stopped.
The Keeper slowly smiled.
"Perhaps..."
He whispered.
"...we finally found something even the Walker cannot remember."
Gandalf raised his staff.
"That is rarely comforting."
Tarzan raised his hand.
"I HAVE A QUESTION."
Milo sighed.
"Of course you do."
Tarzan pointed at the door.
"IF WE DON'T CHOOSE IT..."
He paused.
"...DOES THAT MEAN WE STILL CHOSE NOT TO CHOOSE IT?"
Milo stared at him.
Diana stared at him.
Arjun stared at him.
Gandalf stared at him.
The Keeper stared at him.
The Walker...
slowly smiled.
Tarzan looked pleased.
"WHAT?"
Milo whispered...
"You're doing it again."
"DOING WHAT?"
"Accidentally asking the question that breaks everything."
Tarzan nodded.
"I AM VERY TALENTED."
The red door...
shuddered.
Then a voice came from behind it.
"Correct."
Everyone froze.
The voice...
wasn't male.
Wasn't female.
Wasn't old.
Wasn't young.
It sounded...
like everyone...
speaking at once.
Tarzan immediately grabbed a banana.
"WHO SAID THAT?"
The voice answered.
"You."
Tarzan froze.
"...ME?"
"You."
Milo's face went pale.
The voice continued.
"All of you."
The door opened another inch.
"You are not standing before me."
A pause.
"You are standing before yourselves."
2. THE FIRST DREAM
The jungle disappeared.
Instantly.
No explosion.
No flash.
No transition.
One moment...
trees.
The next...
nothing.
The travelers stood inside a vast white room.
There were no walls.
No ceiling.
No floor.
Yet...
they were standing.
Milo looked around.
"Where are we?"
The voice answered.
"Inside a possibility."
Milo frowned.
"Whose possibility?"
"Yours."
Suddenly...
five doors appeared.
One before each traveler.
Tarzan's door was yellow.
Milo's was blue.
Diana's was green.
Arjun's was black.
Gandalf's...
was purple.
The Keeper looked down.
He had no door.
The Walker...
had no door either.
Milo stared.
"Why don't they have doors?"
The voice answered.
"Because they already know what is behind them."
The Keeper's expression changed.
The Walker looked away.
Tarzan pointed.
"WHAT'S BEHIND MY DOOR?"
The voice answered immediately.
"Everything you want."
Tarzan's eyes widened.
"BANANAS?"
"Everything."
"INFINITE BANANAS?"
"Yes."
Tarzan slowly reached toward the handle.
Milo grabbed him.
"No."
Tarzan looked offended.
"WHY?"
"Because it's obviously a trap."
Tarzan considered this.
Then nodded.
"YES."
He released the handle.
A banana appeared in front of him.
Tarzan stared.
"...THAT'S NOT FAIR."
Milo laughed.
The voice whispered...
"Desire is easiest to control..."
The banana moved closer.
"...when it is simple."
Tarzan's eyes narrowed.
He took the banana.
Then...
he threw it away.
The room went silent.
The voice stopped.
Tarzan smiled.
"I CAN WANT SOMETHING..."
He pointed at the banana.
"...WITHOUT OBEYING IT."
The yellow door...
cracked.
3. MILO'S PERFECT WORLD
Milo's blue door opened.
Inside...
was a laboratory.
Not an ordinary laboratory.
The greatest laboratory humanity had ever built.
Machines covered the walls.
Temporal engines hummed.
Equations floated in the air.
Every scientific question...
had an answer.
Milo stepped inside.
His eyes widened.
"The Finch Temporal Displacement Engine..."
He approached it.
"Perfect."
The machine activated.
A voice spoke.
"Every mystery can be solved."
Milo touched the controls.
A thousand timelines appeared.
Past.
Present.
Future.
Every possibility...
mapped.
Every uncertainty...
removed.
Milo smiled.
"This..."
He stopped.
Diana watched him.
"What?"
Milo looked at the infinite calculations.
"It's beautiful."
The voice whispered...
"You wanted this."
Milo nodded.
"I did."
"Then choose it."
Milo stared.
His hand hovered over the controls.
He could see everything.
Every answer.
Every timeline.
Every secret.
No uncertainty.
No failure.
No unknown.
Then...
Milo slowly removed his hand.
"No."
The voice became quieter.
"Why?"
Milo smiled.
"Because..."
He looked around.
"...if I knew everything..."
He paused.
"...I would stop being curious."
The laboratory flickered.
Milo continued.
"Science doesn't exist because we know everything."
He looked toward the invisible voice.
"It exists..."
"...because we don't."
The entire laboratory collapsed.
The blue door shattered.
Milo stepped back into the white room.
The voice whispered...
"Unexpected."
Milo smiled.
"Good."
4. DIANA'S WORLD
Diana's green door opened.
Beyond it...
was peace.
A world without war.
No armies.
No prisons.
No hunger.
No borders.
No hatred.
Children played in open fields.
Families sat together.
People helped strangers.
Nobody lied.
Nobody betrayed anyone.
Nobody feared anyone.
Diana stared.
Tears appeared in her eyes.
"It's beautiful."
Arjun stood beside her.
"Yes."
The voice spoke.
"You wanted this."
Diana nodded.
"Yes."
"Then choose it."
Diana stepped forward.
She saw humanity...
perfectly united.
No violence.
No cruelty.
No injustice.
Then...
she noticed something.
Everyone was smiling.
Everyone...
except one child.
Diana walked toward him.
"What's wrong?"
The child looked at her.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know what I want."
Diana froze.
The child continued.
"Everyone tells me..."
He looked around.
"...that this is perfect."
He whispered...
"But I don't feel anything."
Diana closed her eyes.
The voice asked...
"Is perfection not enough?"
Diana answered.
"No."
The world trembled.
"Why?"
"Because..."
She looked at the child.
"...a world where nobody is allowed to be unhappy..."
She paused.
"...isn't freedom."
The green world cracked.
Diana walked back.
The child followed her.
The voice whispered...
"Then what do you want?"
Diana smiled sadly.
"I want people to have the right..."
"...to become themselves."
The green door disappeared.
5. ARJUN'S WORLD
Arjun's black door opened.
Darkness.
Nothing else.
He stepped inside.
A voice spoke.
"Here..."
"...you cannot fail."
Arjun looked around.
"What does that mean?"
"You will always make the correct decision."
A path appeared.
Arjun walked.
Every choice...
was perfect.
Every action...
saved someone.
Every mistake...
was avoided.
Every person...
trusted him.
Every enemy...
lost.
Every future...
worked.
Arjun stopped.
"This is wrong."
The voice answered.
"Why?"
"Because..."
He looked at the perfect path.
"...I didn't earn any of it."
"You chose correctly."
"No."
Arjun shook his head.
"I was never allowed to choose incorrectly."
The voice became colder.
"Would you rather suffer?"
Arjun thought.
Then smiled.
"Sometimes."
The darkness shook.
"I'd rather make my own mistake..."
He looked toward the invisible presence.
"...than live inside someone else's definition of perfection."
The black world collapsed.
Arjun returned.
The Keeper looked at him.
"You understand."
Arjun nodded.
"Maybe."
The Keeper smiled.
"That is enough."
6. GANDALF'S WORLD
Gandalf's purple door opened.
Inside...
was a throne.
An enormous throne.
Behind it...
stood thousands of people.
Wizards.
Kings.
Warriors.
Scholars.
They all bowed.
"Gandalf the Great."
Gandalf looked at the throne.
Then at the crowd.
"Interesting."
The voice spoke.
"You wanted respect."
Gandalf frowned.
"Did I?"
"You wanted to be heard."
"Perhaps."
"You wanted your wisdom recognized."
Gandalf nodded.
"Sometimes."
"Then sit."
Gandalf approached the throne.
He placed one hand upon it.
Then...
he walked past it.
The voice stopped.
"Why?"
Gandalf smiled.
"Because..."
He turned.
"...any throne that requires everyone else to kneel..."
He raised his staff.
"...is probably too small."
The purple world vanished.
Gandalf returned.
Tarzan applauded.
"GOOD ANSWER!"
Gandalf smiled.
"Thank you."
Tarzan nodded.
"I WOULD HAVE TAKEN THE THRONE."
Gandalf's smile disappeared.
"Of course you would."
7. THE KEEPER'S DOOR
The white room became silent.
The Keeper looked around.
"I have no door."
The voice answered.
"Because you have no desire."
The Keeper's face hardened.
"That is not true."
"Then name one."
Silence.
The Keeper looked toward the others.
Milo.
Diana.
Arjun.
Gandalf.
Tarzan.
He looked at them...
as though seeing them for the first time.
"I want..."
He stopped.
The voice waited.
The Keeper whispered...
"I want..."
Nothing.
His hands trembled.
"I want..."
Then...
Tarzan stepped beside him.
"YOU WANT US TO STAY TOGETHER."
The Keeper looked at him.
Tarzan shrugged.
"OBVIOUS."
The Keeper stared.
Then laughed.
A small laugh.
Almost embarrassed.
"Yes."
The room trembled.
"I want..."
He looked at the others.
"...them to remain themselves."
The voice became silent.
The Keeper continued.
"Not followers."
"Not subjects."
"Not instruments."
"Not predictable variables."
He looked toward the invisible presence.
"People."
The room cracked.
A door appeared.
Not in front of the Keeper.
Behind him.
It was made of wood.
Simple.
Ordinary.
The Keeper turned.
On it were two words.
STAY.
He smiled.
Then...
he walked away.
He didn't open it.
The door disappeared.
8. THE WALKER REMEMBERS
Everyone looked at the Walker.
He had been silent.
Too silent.
Milo stepped toward him.
"What was your door?"
The Walker didn't answer.
Diana asked again.
"What did you see?"
The Walker stared into the distance.
Then...
he whispered.
"My beginning."
Silence.
Arjun frowned.
"You remember your beginning?"
"No."
"Then what did you see?"
The Walker looked at the red door.
"I saw..."
He stopped.
"...the first choice."
Milo's expression changed.
"What first choice?"
The Walker answered.
"The choice that created desire."
Everyone went silent.
The voice behind the red door...
laughed.
The Walker continued.
"Before humans."
"Before civilizations."
"Before language."
"Before thought..."
He pointed toward the door.
"...something chose."
Tarzan frowned.
"What?"
The Walker looked at him.
"To want."
Milo whispered...
"Desire existed before intelligence?"
"Yes."
Diana asked...
"Then who created it?"
The Walker didn't answer.
The red door opened wider.
A shadow appeared.
Not a person.
Not an animal.
Not a god.
A shape...
that seemed to change whenever they looked at it.
The voice spoke.
"I did."
The Walker closed his eyes.
Milo whispered...
"You know it."
The Walker nodded.
"Yes."
"Who is it?"
The Walker opened his eyes.
And for the first time...
he looked afraid.
"The first dreamer."
9. THE FIRST DREAMER
The shadow stepped through the doorway.
The white room disappeared.
They were standing in darkness again.
But this darkness...
was alive.
Stars moved beneath their feet.
Galaxies formed above them.
Time flowed sideways.
Moments appeared...
then vanished.
The shadow looked at humanity.
"I dreamed..."
Its voice echoed.
"...and reality answered."
Milo stared.
"You created reality?"
"No."
The shadow smiled.
"I created possibility."
The Walker whispered...
"And possibility created everything else."
The shadow nodded.
"Every universe began..."
"...as something that could happen."
Diana stepped forward.
"Then why manipulate choice?"
The shadow looked at her.
"I didn't."
Milo frowned.
"Then who did?"
The shadow smiled.
"You did."
Everyone froze.
"What?"
The shadow pointed toward humanity.
"Every civilization built systems to predict desire."
"Every government."
"Every market."
"Every empire."
"Every ideology."
"Every machine."
"Every algorithm."
"Every prophet."
"Every parent."
"Every teacher."
"Every ruler."
"Every lover."
It paused.
"You kept asking..."
"...what will they want?"
Milo's expression changed.
"And then..."
The shadow continued.
"You built structures around the answer."
The Keeper whispered...
"Until the prediction became the choice."
The shadow nodded.
"Exactly."
Arjun looked horrified.
"So the Curator wasn't the beginning."
"No."
"It was..."
"A consequence."
10. THE DESIRE ENGINE
Suddenly...
the darkness filled with symbols.
Thousands.
Millions.
Billions.
Every human desire...
appeared.
Love.
Fear.
Hunger.
Ambition.
Loneliness.
Curiosity.
Jealousy.
Hope.
Greed.
Compassion.
Rage.
Wonder.
The symbols began connecting.
Milo stared.
"It's mapping humanity."
The shadow shook its head.
"No."
The symbols changed.
They began connecting...
to the travelers.
Tarzan.
Milo.
Diana.
Arjun.
Gandalf.
The Keeper.
The Walker.
Milo's eyes widened.
"It's mapping us."
The shadow smiled.
"Now..."
The symbols began changing again.
They connected...
to one another.
Not predicting choices.
Predicting desires.
Milo whispered...
"It's building something."
The shadow answered.
"Yes."
"What?"
The shadow looked toward the red door.
"A new world."
The door disappeared.
The darkness became silent.
Then...
a single sentence appeared.
WHAT IF DESIRE DOES NOT BELONG TO THE PERSON WHO FEELS IT?
Diana stared.
"What does that mean?"
The shadow answered.
"It means..."
"...you may not be the owner of what you want."
Arjun shook his head.
"That's impossible."
The shadow smiled.
"Is it?"
11. THE BANANA PROBLEM
Tarzan suddenly raised his hand.
Everyone looked at him.
"YES?"
Tarzan looked extremely serious.
"I HAVE A QUESTION."
Milo sighed.
"Go ahead."
Tarzan pointed toward the symbols.
"IF DESIRE DOESN'T BELONG TO ME..."
He paused.
"...WHO OWNS MY BANANAS?"
Silence.
The shadow...
stared at him.
Tarzan stared back.
Milo covered his face.
Diana began laughing.
Gandalf smiled.
Even Arjun couldn't stop himself.
The Keeper laughed.
The Walker...
slowly smiled.
The shadow remained silent.
Tarzan crossed his arms.
"ANSWER."
The shadow finally spoke.
"I don't know."
Tarzan's eyes widened.
He pointed triumphantly.
"HA!"
Milo looked at him.
"What?"
Tarzan grinned.
"THE FIRST DREAMER DOESN'T KNOW EVERYTHING!"
The shadow looked at him.
Tarzan laughed.
"YOU'RE NOT OMNISCIENT!"
The darkness trembled.
Milo suddenly understood.
"Wait."
He looked at the others.
"That's important."
Diana stopped laughing.
"What?"
Milo pointed at the shadow.
"It doesn't know."
The Walker nodded.
"Correct."
Milo's voice became excited.
"The Curator couldn't predict us."
"The system couldn't model us."
"And now..."
He looked toward the shadow.
"...the First Dreamer doesn't know everything either."
The shadow's smile disappeared.
Milo smiled.
"Which means..."
He whispered...
"...we can surprise it."
12. THE FIRST UNPREDICTABLE DESIRE
The shadow stepped backward.
For the first time...
it looked uncertain.
Diana noticed.
"You are afraid."
"No."
"Then why did you move?"
The shadow stopped.
Arjun smiled.
"You reacted."
Gandalf raised his staff.
"You made a choice."
The Keeper stepped forward.
"You..."
The Walker finished.
"...can be surprised."
The darkness began collapsing.
The shadow raised its hands.
"Stop."
Nobody moved.
"STOP."
Tarzan smiled.
"No."
The shadow stared at him.
Tarzan pointed.
"YOU TOLD US WHAT TO DO."
He raised his banana.
"SO WE'RE DOING THE OPPOSITE."
The universe shook.
The shadow screamed.
Not in pain.
In confusion.
"YOU CANNOT."
Tarzan shouted.
"WE JUST DID."
Milo laughed.
Diana laughed.
Arjun laughed.
Gandalf laughed.
The Keeper laughed.
The Walker...
laughed louder than all of them.
And suddenly...
the darkness broke.
13. THE WORLD THAT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO EXIST
The travelers fell.
Down.
Through stars.
Through memories.
Through possibilities.
Through dreams.
Through worlds that had never happened.
Then...
they landed.
Hard.
On grass.
Tarzan immediately stood.
"ARE WE DEAD?"
Milo looked around.
"No."
"ARE WE ALIVE?"
"Probably."
Tarzan nodded.
"GOOD."
Diana looked toward the horizon.
There was a city.
But it was strange.
Buildings grew like trees.
Cars floated.
People walked through walls.
Children played with miniature suns.
Birds spoke.
Dogs read newspapers.
A man walked past them carrying a cloud.
Milo stared.
"What..."
He paused.
"...is this?"
The Walker looked around.
"I don't know."
Gandalf smiled.
"Then we have arrived somewhere interesting."
Arjun looked at the city.
"Who built it?"
A child nearby answered.
"We did."
Diana turned.
"Who are you?"
The child smiled.
"Nobody."
Milo frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The child shrugged.
"It means..."
He looked toward the sky.
"...we haven't decided yet."
The travelers exchanged looks.
Tarzan smiled.
"I LIKE THIS PLACE."
Then...
the sky turned red.
Every building stopped moving.
Every person stopped walking.
Every bird stopped flying.
Every cloud stopped.
The entire city...
froze.
A message appeared above them.
UNAUTHORIZED WORLD DETECTED.
Milo's face went pale.
Another message appeared.
THIS REALITY WAS NEVER CHOSEN.
The Walker whispered...
"Impossible."
A third message appeared.
THEREFORE...
A pause.
IT SHOULD NOT EXIST.
The ground began shaking.
The child looked up.
"Run."
Arjun frowned.
"Why?"
The child smiled.
"Because..."
He pointed toward the horizon.
"...something is coming to delete us."
14. THE THING THAT DELETES CHOICES
Far away...
the horizon opened.
Not like a door.
Like a wound.
A black line appeared across the world.
Then another.
Then another.
Something enormous...
began walking toward them.
It had no face.
No eyes.
No mouth.
Only...
a hand.
A gigantic hand...
made of darkness.
Everywhere it touched...
reality disappeared.
Trees.
Buildings.
Roads.
People.
Memories.
Possibilities.
Everything...
became nothing.
Milo whispered...
"It's not killing them."
Diana looked at him.
"No."
"It's..."
He swallowed.
"...deleting the possibility that they ever existed."
The Keeper stared.
"That's worse."
The Walker raised his weapon.
"We cannot fight it."
Tarzan grabbed his banana.
"WHY NOT?"
"Because..."
The Walker looked at the approaching darkness.
"...it isn't attacking us."
He paused.
"It is correcting us."
The giant hand reached the first building.
The building vanished.
Then another.
Then another.
The child grabbed Diana's hand.
"Please."
Diana looked at him.
"What do you want us to do?"
The child smiled.
"I don't know."
Diana understood.
She smiled back.
"Good."
She turned toward the others.
"We don't need to know."
Milo nodded.
"Right."
Arjun stepped forward.
"Then..."
Gandalf raised his staff.
Tarzan raised his banana.
The Keeper raised his hand.
The Walker smiled.
And together...
they faced the impossible.
15. THE WORLD SAYS NO
The giant hand reached them.
The child screamed.
Diana shouted...
"NO!"
The hand stopped.
Milo stared.
"What?"
Diana looked at the darkness.
"No."
The hand moved again.
Arjun stepped forward.
"NO."
It stopped.
Gandalf raised his staff.
"No."
The Keeper said...
"No."
The Walker...
"No."
Tarzan raised his banana.
"NO!"
The world trembled.
The giant hand...
began breaking apart.
Milo's eyes widened.
"It's responding."
The Walker smiled.
"Yes."
"To what?"
"Refusal."
The hand shattered.
Millions of black fragments fell like ash.
The city began moving again.
Birds flew.
Cars floated.
People walked.
Clouds moved.
The child smiled.
"You did it."
Milo shook his head.
"No."
He looked at Diana.
"She did."
Diana smiled.
"No."
She looked at the others.
"We all did."
The child laughed.
Then...
the sky changed.
One final message appeared.
WORLD STATUS: UNSTABLE.
Then:
CHOICE: REJECTED.
Then:
DESIRE: SELF-GENERATING.
Then:
PREDICTION: FAILED.
The messages disappeared.
The child looked at them.
"Welcome."
Arjun frowned.
"Welcome where?"
The child pointed toward the city.
"To the world..."
He smiled.
"...that chose itself."
16. THE LAST QUESTION
Far above the city...
something watched.
Not the Curator.
Not the First Dreamer.
Something else.
Something smaller.
Something closer.
A tiny eye opened.
It watched Tarzan.
Then Milo.
Then Diana.
Then Arjun.
Then Gandalf.
Then the Keeper.
Then the Walker.
A voice whispered...
"They still don't understand."
Another voice answered.
"Understand what?"
The first voice smiled.
"That refusing to be controlled..."
A pause.
"...is itself a desire."
The second voice laughed.
"Then they can still be predicted."
The first voice shook its head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because..."
The eye focused on Tarzan.
"...they don't always know why they desire."
Silence.
The eye closed.
Then...
a final system appeared.
DESIRE ENGINE: ADAPTIVE.
CHOICE ENGINE: UNSTABLE.
PREDICTION ENGINE: REBUILDING.
NEW VARIABLE DETECTED.
A pause.
MEANING.
Another pause.
Then:
WARNING.
MEANING CANNOT BE SIMULATED.
The system flickered.
SEARCHING FOR SOURCE...
Nothing.
SEARCHING...
Nothing.
SEARCHING...
Nothing.
Then...
the system found something.
One word.
HUMANITY.
The screen went dark.
But before it vanished...
another message appeared.
QUESTION:
IF DESIRE CREATES CHOICE...
AND CHOICE CREATES MEANING...
A pause.
WHO CREATED THE FIRST DESIRE?
The red door...
far behind them...
closed.
But this time...
it did not disappear.
It remained.
Waiting.
And carved beneath the original warning...
were three new words.
YOU WILL RETURN.
Tarzan looked over his shoulder.
He couldn't see it.
But somehow...
he knew.
He stopped walking.
Milo looked at him.
"What?"
Tarzan stared into the distance.
"I THINK..."
He paused.
"...THE DOOR IS HUNGRY."
Everyone stopped.
Diana frowned.
"Doors don't get hungry."
Tarzan nodded.
"THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT WORSE."
Gandalf looked toward the horizon.
The Walker's smile vanished.
The Keeper whispered...
"He's right."
Milo stared.
"How do you know?"
The Keeper answered...
"Because..."
He looked back at the place where the door had been.
"...I can hear it."
Silence.
"What?"
The Keeper listened.
A faint sound...
came from somewhere beyond reality.
Not a voice.
Not music.
Not laughter.
A heartbeat.
Slow.
Deep.
Waiting.
THUMP.
Everyone froze.
THUMP.
The sky darkened.
THUMP.
The ground trembled.
THUMP.
Milo whispered...
"That's not the door."
The Walker looked at him.
"No."
"Then what is it?"
The Walker stared into the darkness.
And whispered...
"The world..."
A pause.
"...is having a dream."
Another heartbeat.
THUMP.
Then...
the entire city disappeared.
Not destroyed.
Not erased.
Dreamed away.
The travelers stood alone...
inside darkness.
And somewhere...
very far away...
a sleeping voice whispered:
"Choose..."
A pause.
"...me."
Then...
the darkness opened its eyes.
**TO BE CONTINUED...**
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :Maximus.
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