* * *
There was a light. It was so powerful I had to blink my eyes, but I found I couldn’t. All I could do was to stare at it. It seemed to invite me in, but I didn’t want to go, and someone was urgently calling my name. Someone was begging me not to leave them. I felt so much compassion for that person that I turned away, and I went back to the real world, even though I was very much aware of the mental and physical pain that was awaiting me. It came down on me like a crushing wall of stone and I screamed.