Which Way? Pt. 2

A gasp escaped his lips as he emerged from the crowd, victorious at last.

He looked around, wondering what the landscape was like in the land he had arrived unknowingly in.

But to his surprise, it was not beautiful.

There was just the same blue sky, the same sun, stuck at early evening.

The only change was that the path carved by the crowd had become a huge clearing, extending as far as his eyes could see.

Then he realized that it was not that the clearing was huge, but that his eyes were weakened by the sun's rays, surrounding him in their brightness, and causing chaos with his perception.

He fell to his knees, frightened by the openness, wishing he could return once more to the crowd.

Turning his head, he searched for them, eager to be within their warm, jostling, crushing embrace once more, but to his shock, they had disappeared, outside the limited scope of his sight.

He surrendered to the light, which had been threatening to overwhelm him since he had first broken free, and then sweet darkness overtook him.

But not for long.