After a few steps I slowly opened my eyes again and I immediately had the feeling that I’d been engulfed by complete darkness. But as I blinked a few more times, I could make out the form of a feline. I was frozen instantly in place by the intense gaze that the wildcat was giving me. I didn’t even dare to breath. I felt confused, because I felt scared to death but at the same time I was in awe by the grace and power that was pouring out of the animal. It didn’t make a move. It only sat there and stared. Strangely it looked very calm and it seemed that it didn’t have in mind to hurt me at all. This recognition made me stare back into it’s powerful, yellow eyes. Right then I felt a calm come over me that I haden’t felt in a long time. Not scared anymore I passed the animal still mesmerized by the encounter I just had with the mystic animal.

Moments later I saw steam come from down the road. As I came closer I could see a pool of dark, deep water. I knelt down beside the water and dipped my fingertipps in it, but backed up almost immediately like it had burned my hand. The water was ice cold. So cold that fog had settled itself over the surface. It was beautiful. It looked like the fog had been dancing just above the water, inviting the world to step in. And that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to step in and drown in the depths of the water, forgetting about the world. But once again it reminded me of my inner battle. I always had the feeling that I was swimming and drowning in the water. I was fighting hard to reach the surface, but something or someone always held me down, so that I was never able to come up for air. Mostly that someone was me.

Realizing that I fought the urge to literally drown in the water, I walked away leaving the inviting water behind.

For the first time since I’d been walking, I could see the road turn to the right side, leaving the sight of it disappearing behind more trees. My instincts were telling me that something was behind those trees. So I prepared myself mentally for what I was gonna see. But nothing could have prepared me for what lay just before my eyes. The sight of this left me speechless. It was breathtaking.