The Book Of Short Stories

DREAM

Silence. That's all I hear. As I   walk further down through the forest I hear the sound of water. Louder. Stronger. I part the curtain of vines that was obstructing my vision, then clearly, I see, a majestic view of beauty. A rushing waterfall fills a sparkling pool of translucent water, birds flutter above my head, butterflies rest on the gorgeous flowers and luscious grass smells almost as sweet as candy. A mighty white deer stands proudly  above the waterfall whilst ponies gallop and foxes lay with their cubs prancing around them. It’s a utopia. But within the happiness, within the light, there is a darkness that burns.
A darkness ready to burn out the light and reign in a world where everything is not beautiful, nor magical. But is a world filled with rage and greed. A world that burns all beauty to the ground into a pile of ash. And it all started with a flower. A simple rose that to the world is beauty but is actually a creation that seeks harm. A creation that grows out of control, strangling other beauties on its way.
See how harmful such beauty can do? You prune and prune the rose but it just keeps growing and growing and when you have finally managed to tame it, it has already destroyed all other beauty around. Spiraling into a pain that lives in everyone's heart.
So, when you are standing in a utopia. With the sounds of peace and happiness surrounding you, you still see the darkness. But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. This could have been stopped though. One thing leads to another. One sin leads to another sin. One death leads to so many people around you to be in so much pain and yet, nobody stops and soon enough, you are surrounded with people in need of revenge. In need of this pain to go away, but they carry on with their lives, the anger inside them slowly eating away at whatever hope they have left of living in this utopia where everything is perfect. But once they wake up they see nothing but a dystopia. A fire burns in their heart. And soon enough everyone is living with a hatred, a rage that nothing can stop. That no-one can get in the way of.
So, as I walk around this utopia, searching for this one flower... this one creation of beauty that others see as a creation of pain. I wonder. I wonder, if that one person never sinned then there would be no darkness, no anger, no rage. I wonder, if that one flower never spread into an out of control monster then there would be no need for revenge. No need for that fire that is slowly burning at the heart. Slowly burning the soul, the feeling, the last drip of happiness.
My eye catches on something. Something that doesn’t belong in a utopia. A trail of thorns leading to a dark abyss. The darkness in the light, the end of the happiness...

Walking into the darkness, the chirping of the birds fades into a squawking of crows. The sound of the trickling water into a crackling fire. The darkness keeps going like a never-ending hallway, and at the end of this hallway is a glow. A red glow. The closer I get the clearer things is. The red glow is destruction. What once was a utopia is now a dystopia. Within minutes a gorgeous view is now filled with hatred and anger, with rage and greed. All around me the calm peace turned into loud disturbance. The playful cubs now angry wolves, the majestic deer now a burning phoenix perched proudly above a bubbling volcano. The butterflies now buzzing wasps.
I carry on walking through the land. Rubble showing where buildings used to be. People fighting over what is scarce. I walk down the path of destruction, taking in my surroundings, searching for the utopia I was in not long before. Light, I see light at the end of the path. An exit maybe?
A way out? Back to the utopia?
Maybe...
I keep walking, speeding up practically sprinting towards the light.  Suddenly, I was falling.
Falling until I was awake.
I look out the window and see a world where everything is hidden. I see humans, but no humanity. All emotions are hidden by blank stares. But there is still love, couples look into each other's eyes. Affection clouding in the orbs. Families play in the park as the sun shines down. But not for long...
Because happiness isn't forever, just like a dream. It only takes one tragedy for many to hurt. Because anger is energizing. But anger can cause pain. And then that pain turns into the need for revenge. The need to gain what was taken. The need to gain justice for losing their loved ones. But pain is part of the process to move toward healing and acceptance.
But we need to not let that revenge, that anger eat us up but let it teach us. Let it give us a lesson on life.  We need to grieve and then carry on living. Because once you are pent up on that anger. Then it never stops. You need to forgive. You need to let it go. You need to stop yourself before all around you only see bad side. The dystopia. The happiness is there somewhere. It only takes one small thing or one person to bring it up... You just have to look.
So, the roses at the beginning of the dream was the humans. Showing how one rose, the person, can cause a long line of pain. But dystopias aren't real, they are a reflection of our fears. And our fear is...

living without those we love.