This is my cavern, my cell. A chamber of smooth rock where occasional amber jewels glint and damp lines of deep red break the warm golden hues.

There is nothing in here but me, and I occupy only the corner. One sharp corner in an otherwise curving natural cave, just one very definite corner, and I sit with my back to it. It is a small space and I see it all from here, there is nothing to explore, but there are ways out of this empty place, if only I could move.

To my left is a rough, arched opening to a high ledge. Yellow flowers grow on the ledge, and slender trees with the richest green leaves rise from a soil I’ve never seen; their swaying tops of lush foliage hint at the great height and tell a tale of the Eden below. Creatures stand on the ledge; some breed of human perhaps descended from ape and bear, with soft fur and childlike eyes. They are happy and sunrays carry their happiness and their world into my cave. The ledge promises comfort even within its limited dimensions, and maybe the ledge becomes a path to the wonderful gardens where the seeds of those tall trees fall, but from here I cannot be sure and it is a narrow and precarious strip. The creatures stand at the arch and offer a smiling welcome.

To my right is another arch (the only other), ornate, carved by hand. Beyond this arch a black ocean rages, thrashing and swirling in turbulent fury. The expanse of dark water screams of bottomless depths, home to mystery and monsters and wonders unexplored. There are no islands, no visible land, what dwells there is hidden below, deep below. Tales of excitement and discovery glisten in every drop of spray that splashes into my cave, the scent is salty and tempting. From here the black ocean could appear a place to be feared, but it promises that to sink into those depths, to die and be reborn in that world, would bring treasures reserved only for the brave and an awakening into a long lost dream.

But I stay in my corner, and I shout the same name. Again, and again, and again, and again.