I always begin in darkness, surrounded by glowing white pinpricks of light; these are distant beacons of worlds unknown. I have traversed these hollow expanses for a lifetime as my ancestors have before me. They are in my past for now all that matters is this mass below me. A world of blue, shrouds of white, I’ve had this dream before. Every night for as far back as I can remember I have descended through white clouds. My conscious mind somehow exists in this world and I know it to be a dream yet I can’t shake the feeling of reality that seems to be present here. More clouds, less sky. Elements exist in such rare form and combination here. Where generations before me have failed I have finally claimed victory. I gaze intently through the haze while visages of the unimaginable appear for an instant and then vanish. Will I reach the bottom? More clouds, less sky. Perhaps my heart has been right all along and this is the only true actuality. Perhaps the endless space and solitary balls of mindless fire exist only within my nightmares. How long have I been here, drifting in and out of what is real and what might never be. More clouds, less sky. Will I reach the bottom before I wake? Will I be seized by that endless black nightmare before I reach the bottom? Everything seems shrouded in doubt yet hope still remains. I plummet further and further and these clouds ensnare me. Suddenly a break in the mist, is a chance at my destiny imminent? My eyes become strained and I long for the sight of something, something that no one has seen. This is the farthest I’ve gone and I feel so close now. One more foot and it will all become clear to me but wait, have I stopped? Less clouds, more sky. I realize that my descent has been stopped short and I am now returning to that endless field of hopeless white lights. I try to scream but no words come out. A sickness washes over me and I want to wake up. Less clouds, more sky. I twist and turn, pinch myself in failed attempts to return to consciousness. Perhaps I’m already awake? I must sleep. I freeze and become limp. Less clouds, more sky. White, and then blue, and then black, I close my eyes and I am yet again in darkness surrounded by these phosphenes that dance mercilessly in the void.