Venus

I open up my eyes. I’m in the room shaped like a sphere. She is there. She is so sad. So deeply sad. Her body a weeping dark blue, deep violet blob of tears. I try to comfort her and she tries to push me back into my body. I resist. I tell her that I’m stronger now. That I am like her. I transmit love to her. She sees me and takes my hand. We climb out the window and begin to walk together. I call out to my lover, hoping he might hear. She shakes her head, sadly as always. She says this time is for me. We walk together, hand in hand. The road is straight and narrow. The path ahead gets darker. We are walking into an abyss. A starless night sky. We reach the end of the road and she turns to face me, taking my other hand. She leans down and kisses me on the mouth, then gently nods over the edge. I call out again for my lover. Searching in the darkness for him. She shakes her head and nods again into the depths. I take a deep breath and step over the edge. She and I fall together, hand-in-hand. And knowing death is imminent, I realize I have nothing to worry about. I am perfectly at peace.

And we are in the spherical room again. She sighs and tries to climb out of the window. I search for another door or way out. When I realize there is none, I follow her. She takes my hand and we begin to walk. The land around us is bright and lush. I feel myself tensing up and she wraps a soft blanket around my shoulders. This land is cold and I am shivering. I tell her that I don’t like this place and that I want to leave. She says I can leave whenever I want. But I don’t want to leave her here alone. I tell her that it is so cold and so uncomfortable, but her pace doesn’t slow. She keeps walking forward. I tell her that I need to leave, and she says not to worry because she will still be with me. That we are always together.