The Illusion

A Poem by Peter Schal

A journey when death becomes a reality...the Door determines your infinite fate.

The Illusion

Take a step across the vast expanse of black-and-white checkered linoleum flooring.
It is vast, yes, stretching farther than the naked eye can percieve, and with every
Step, you drift silently into a calm, soothing trance.

Looking up, the sky is not blue, nor is it spotted with the unacceptable name,
"Fluffy white Clouds"; it is black.

Pitch black.

And within that pitch-blackness lies the Sun and the Moon, a glowing radiance that
Bears no shadow on the objects they illuminate; only a thin aura around the body
That is you.

You take another step forward.

The floor breaks into bountiful waves of mixed color, a watery surface that creates
Powerful motions with every arched drop of your boots, spiraling outward slowly,
And initially gaining speed.

Straight ahead in the dark, purplish-green horizon, emerging out of a thin wave of
Grey mist, appears a door, suspended three feet in mid-air, hovering silently like
A vague apparition.

You stride towards it with wide-eyed curiosity; for about a minute it floats Farther away from your grasp, with you in short pursuit, hopping ever so slowly
From foot to foot in zero gravity, your feet creating an unsettling sea of
Towering waves of black and white color.

The Door at last rests just shy ahead of you, resuming its levitation once more,
As the immense waves that you had created settles silently into jelly-like bubbles
Of every size and quantity that bob here and there, above and beyond.

You stand still, rooted to the spot in calm fascination as these blobs of virtually
Every shape and size dances in the cool mists around you.

And there stands the Door, dead ahead.

You sluggishly raise your left hand to the dark-brown curvatures of the bronze
Handle, sensing your fingers forming a tight semicircle around its ornated curves...

Finally, after what had seemed an eternity, you twist the knob ninety degrees left,
And push forward.

Darkness fills the room.

A sense of deep sleep overcomes you.

You fall into the depths.

You fall forever.