There once was a young man by the name of Jeffrey. Fed up with how his life was going, he decided to lose himself.
He had heard stories from his peers about a fairly large cave not too far from his place of living. He gathered basic supplies. He had been collecting water for a while in preparation for his life in the cave, and he brought enough food to last him a little while, but would need to hunt in the forest nearby to sustain himself after the food was used up. The other supplies he would be bringing were a couple knives, blankets, flashlights and basic medical supplies.
Once Jeffrey had all his supplies secured in his backpack, he ventured out toward the cave. Along the way he passed a man who said to Jeffrey, "Are you sure you want to do this, kid?" Jeffrey wondered what the man meant and what he himself truly was doing. What would he gain from this experience? Would he find the closure he longed for? He decided the only way to find out would be to carry out the journey.
So Jeffrey pushed on, encountering various people along the way, all of which said things along the lines of, "You'll regret this." Questions still continued to race through his head. What's the big deal? Should I listen to them? Not once, though, did Jeffrey wonder who these people were and what drove them to warn so heavily against Jeffrey's choice of escape.
Jeffrey eventually arrived at the cave after a 1 and a half hour walk. Upon entering he was bombarded by the cacophonous scream of tens, maybe even hundreds, of bats. Jeffrey remained calm. Jeffrey walked deeper into the cave and stumbled upon an animal that appeared to be rabid and that growled at him ferociously. Jeffrey remained calm, and the animal left.
Jeffrey came upon a room that allowed light to enter. It contained multiple different elevations that were all easily reachable. In the center of the room was a beautifully clear pool of water that, when the light hit it, cast beautiful refractions around the chamber. Jeffrey was pleased with this space and decided to make it his living quarters for the time being.
Jeffrey resided in the cave for the next few months until his supplies were almost all gone. In his time there he had seen many wondrous things that he would never had witnessed or thought about if he hadn't taken his little trip. He wondered why those people had told him not to go.
He began the journey back to his previous home. While walking back he passed a masked figure who began to remove a metallic object from a holster at their hip.
The first thing that went through Jeffrey's mind was regret. Not regret for taking the journey itself, but regret for something else entirely. Jeffrey felt regret for not saying anything to his family before he embarked on his journey. He regretted not saying goodbye or telling them he loved them.
The last thing that went through his mind was realization. The realization that the people who warned him to not go through with the trip weren't actually people at all. All along it was his conscience, his guilt, his regret, his fear, eating away at him.
As Jeffrey slipped from consciousness, he regained it and woke up in his bed back home, only to realize he had never left it.
