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All Is Well: Or Not

By February 9, 2020Musings

Had curiosity not gotten the better of me I would never have found myself in the position I’m in now. I am sitting at the bottom of a dark, dank well, trying to devise a plan of escape.

I glance once again at the small shiny stone that, moments before when I was in the outside world, looked like a glittering diamond at the bottom of the well.  Now I find myself without even a legitimate reason for being down here.

I look longingly up to the mouth of the well. Perhaps if I try to scale the slimy cracked wall but no, it’s no use. My ice cold hands cannot maintain a grip on the slippery stones, and I fall back into the frigid pool of blue grey water.

My mind begins to wander when up above I see a young man about to draw water from the well, not realizing that the bucket system has not worked for years. He will save me…but how?

I call out to him for help but he merely gazes at me through his rose-tinted glasses as he begins to unravel masses of chestnut brown hair, unfolding them into the length of the well.

I reach up into the darkness, my numb hands groping for a stronghold, and begin to climb. But this cannot be happening! I suddenly recall a story I’d read as a child: a fairy tale strangely similar. Surely this is not…oh no, it cannot be!

I finally reach the outside world and my rescuer gallantly tosses his damp locks over his shoulder, smiles benignly and strokes the delicate daisies intertwined in his hair. He implores me to come away with him to the “magical world of the senses”. I decline graciously, somewhat confused by his look of subtle amusement. He shrugs his shoulders, deeply inhales the sickly sweet smoke of his peculiar looking cigarette, and turns to leave. He glances back just once, and in that instant…

“Hey! Wake up! Are you OK?”

I groan slightly as I open my eyes. A little boy stands by the well mouth.

“You were sure tossing and turning in your sleep. That must have been one heck of a nightmare.”

I understand now, and nod my head. I close my weary eyes momentarily and when I open them again, I find a daisy and a pair of rose-tinted glasses in place of the little boy.

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