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nTrinity

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nIt felt like I had been walking for hours. I was moving along in the same direction without seeing anything and therefore without knowing if I was making any progress at all. For all I knew, I could have been walking in circles. Wouldn't that just be grand? Making an ass of myself that way as I tried to move into the proper direction that I needed to only to be stuck here forever.

n

"STOP IT!

"

n'Hush Trinity!' I scolded myself at the same time that the other me did the same thing.

n

"Yeah, I know. This isn't going to help me at all.

"

n'No, it will not.' She agreed with me. 'You need to stay positive. That is one key to making it through the underworld. Just as you referred to it already, this is the place that the mortals call hell. It is the afterlife for all living beings on Earth. That means that it will try to make you feel despair.'

n

"Wait a minute. If this is hell, does that mean that there is a heaven?

" I had to ask. I mean, I never thought about heaven in that way but if it were actually real, then I would like to know. That would be some prime information.

n'Not in the sense that you are thinking about. Heaven and Hell are both the afterlife. They are both in the land of the dead and gone. Where you end up in the underworld all depends on you and the things that you have done.'

n

"Well, based on the marathon session that we just had, I can assume I am winding up in the hell section.

" I felt my head and shoulders lower without even meaning to.

n'No, you are not an evil person, Trinity. You did what you did thinking you were doing things for the greater good, not to be evil or malicious. There is a difference, you know. And all I wanted you to do while we spoke, was to acknowledge that you still have a lot of room to grow as time moves forward.' This other me was taking on a whole new attitude now that she was inside of me again.

n

"I will do my best to remember that.

"

nThings were settling down with the conversation and I was doing my best to stay positive. I mean, I truly was trying my hardest. It was just really, really hard when you're in a place like this. Not to mention, it was completely dark in a way that filled your whole body and soul.

n

"Think happy thoughts.

" I told myself as I kept moving.

"Just think happy thoughts.

"

n'It won't make you fly.' The other me laughed.

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"Yeah, because I am already in Neverland. As in, I never want to come back here again.

"

nAs I made my little joke, I finally saw something out of the corner of my eye. It was just a slight flash of light, but it was the first thing that I had seen since I left the circle with the fire and was plunged into darkness.

nI immediately turned to my right and started to follow after that light that I saw. That light was important. If nothing else, it proved that there was something over there and that I had been moving in the right direction. It was a symbol of hope. It was my happy thought.

n

"Follow the light. Follow the light. Follow the light.

" I was just whispering the words to myself over and over again. It was like a near silent mantra that I just needed to repeat again and again until I found out what that light was and where it led me.

nAfter a little while, I stopped walking in a slow shuffle. I started to jog and then run as I rushed forward blindly. I was doing something reckless and dangerous once again, but I had no other choice. I needed to be able to get out of this purgatory and into the next stage of my time here. I needed to move forward so that I could get home.

nThe first thing that I saw looming up before me, was what looked like a giant mountain. It was tall with sheer cliffs and slippery slopes that looked like it would be extremely hard to climb. There also seemed to be no end in sight as it rose before me. I couldn't see where the top of the mountain was.

nWithout thinking, I rushed forward and tried to climb the mountain. I instantly fell back and slid down to the ground, or was it a floor. I couldn't always tell if I was inside or not.

nI tried again. I rushed forward, faster than before. This time I managed to get a hold of the rock and hold on for just a few minutes. I made it several feet up the side of the slick, slippery rock surface. I struggled to hold on but I couldn't manage it. I started to fall back down and slipped all the way back to the beginning.

n

"This **ing sucks.

" I growled out as I made a third rush for the mountain side. I leapt just before I got to the hard surface and made it about ten feet up the side. I tried as hard as I could to hold on tight and move up the side of the mountain. Alas, I once again slipped and went tumbling down the rocks until I ended up landing on my ass, once again on the hard ground.

n

"DAMMIT!

" I snapped as I rose to my feet.

nAs I stood there before the looming mountain face, getting more and more discouraged by the second, I started trying to find something else, some other way, that might help me to climb these slopes. I was looking all around me, all over the place trying to find something that I might have missed. That was when I noticed that the light was not coming from the mountain like I had originally thought that it was. No, the light was coming from somewhere down and to the side of the looming rocks.

nAfter beating myself up for not paying enough attention in the beginning, I started to move again. I knew that I just needed to keep moving. I had to keep going. I needed to find my way out of here. That was all that I was telling myself over and over again. Find the light, find a way out. That was the only thing that I was thinking about.

nAs I started to follow that path down the side of the mountain, I grinned in anticipation. I knew that this was going to be it. This was my way out. I just knew that it had to be. There was nothing that could possibly go wrong right now. I just needed to find that elusive light and I would find my way out of here. It was that simple. I kept repeating those thoughts, focusing on that as my happy thought to drive away the despair. I just knew that I was going to get out of here.

nWell, that was, until I saw what was waiting for me when I actually found the light.

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