I awake, covered in cold sweat, my heart pumping. I jolt upright; my surrounding seem strange, yet somehow familiar to me. My body is stiff from the rigors of daily adventures and questing. I look around, searching for some type of visual stimulation. I find nothing. I am in total darkness. Fear grips my heart, overcoming all my senses. I force myself to slow down and take in my surrounding. The night is deathly quiet as I feel a chilling breeze on my face. I smell the dew of early morning. I am slowly calming, but then the realization comes to my mind: I have been awakened to complete a formidable quest.

The One, he who has power over all other needs, urges or desires, has brought to my mind the extreme urgency of my quest. I become aware of the difficulty and pain that will accompany it. My soul is filled with fear and dread, but I trust the One and his judgment; he knows what is best for my survival. I arise from my resting place, facing not only the encroaching darkness of the night but the darkness gripping my soul: fear. As I stand, the guidance of Lau Tzu, that which I have known since my elementary days comes to my mind, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” And oh, the courage that floods my spirit as I take that first step towards victory. The darkness seems just a little brighter.

I withstand step after step, obstacle after obstacle of torture. My barren feet numb from lack of protection against the rough land. My eyes looking down straining to see each step I take, sore from withstanding that overbearing darkness. My skin tingling from the onslaught of a persistent freezing wind. I look up and my eyes sweep over that great expanse of land known to many as “Hall.” Dreaded by all men determined to conquer the darkness, Hall plagues my senses with fear. However, I now once I overcome this monstrous obstacle, I would be within reach of my final goal. As I trod over the remnants of forests past, my hands reach out, running along the smooth barrier that surrounds Hall. My fingers suddenly run along something foreign. It startles me, but then the realization hits me. I am there; the Gate of the Porcelain Throne. My eyes are flooded with light, just as my soul is flooded with relief.

I close the toilet lid and flip off the light, glad that I made it to the bathroom without tripping over anything. Annoyed by the fact that I always wake up so early in the morning to use the bathroom, I walk back to my room stumbling through the dark hallway. I think about how bothersome it is that my bladder, the one organ that has control over all other needs or wants, picks the worst times to be full. My eyes once again strain against the darkness of night. My feet are really cold from the hardwood floor. I run my hands along the walls to keep myself from running into anymore obstacles. Before I slip back under the covers, I close my window and turn off the fan, thinking it is a bit too chilly for comfort to

sleep. My eyelids are heavy from the continuous lack of sleep that plagues all college students. The darkness now seems inviting as I slip into another stage of consciousness, maybe before I wake up for class I will have dreamt about some bold quest or daring adventure! A smile slowly spreads across my face as I think back to that daring quest: A Quest Through Darkness.