Vase

There once was a building here.

It's difficult to picture what is now gone as you rest upon the stone tiles of the abandoned terrace. They left this space empty as a reminder of what once was; they left it to gracefully fall into decay.

There is something so comforting about this secret place. It's hidden from the rest of the city by the trees, casting their shadows through the pleasant, Spring day. Moss and vines have crept out from the stonework and gradually begun to reclaim their home. The statues are crumbling and losing their silhouettes, reverting them back into meaningless rocks. There was something so grand here before, now lost forever. But it should never be rebuilt, because:

"There is purpose in the emptiness."

Her words. She introduced you to this place. She led you through the collapsing arches, showing you the paths lost to time and the ruined stairways with their ten steps. It was your secret garden to share, but it was the fascination of another that kept you transfixed by it.

"When a building is gone, whether demolished or lost to fire, it can become so difficult to remember what stood in its place. But there's beauty in its ruins, don't you think?"

She likes to ask those last three words. When you're at this place, it does become so difficult to think, like your mind is at peace with the environment around it. She would bring you here often and each time, guiding you by the hand, watching as you began to sink into this calm state.

Resting back against the terrace, listening to her words and the wind blowing gently through the trees. You lie so still, like the stones around you, as though the vines could start to creep up and softly begin to cover over you too.

"What makes a vase useful? It's the emptiness within it. Does a vase feel shame or pride for being empty? Does a vase have an ego that it could contemplate such feelings? A vase simply is, it is useful in its emptiness. It doesn't need to be anything else."

So empty. She always liked that about you. It meant Her words could fill the whole space, if only temporarily until She next spoke. For you, it was like resting on the ocean. Rising with the waves as She filled you with Her thoughts, then dropping back down when She left you in silence, and right now you have dropped so deep. She hasn't spoken for a while. You're not ever aware if She's still sitting there, smiling down at you, dangling that wonderful, empty crystal over your eyes. When you're this far down it becomes so difficult to perceive anything outside of this space you've created. The empty terrace in your mind where a building once stood.

Where nothing new will be built as there is purpose in the emptiness. And when you awaken, She'll give you purpose too.