so i sailed on my galley over the crests of waves. storms battered the seas and hurricanes ripped the skies apart. mother nature was ever unrelenting, and i was but at the mercy of her wrath. powerless to do much, i rode out the storms, in hopes of brighter dawns. with time, the weather settled. the winds calmed and the ship rocked no longer. but the air was still thick with the pervasive atmosphere of more bad times to come. i stood on the deck of my galley. with no one else on ship, i was alone. the kraken rose from the depths, and clung to the starboard face of the ship. it spoke to me, with its years of esoteric knowledge. it spoke of visions of a brighter future, one of happy times and less tense waters. but as with all other ventures, the route there was never going to be easy. and alas, much was not within my grasp. the kraken, with its tentacles, handed me a map. and from there i saw various places to go too, some of extreme lengths. the map told me what i already knew, the journey wasn't going to be easy, and i may not make it back together with my ship, the forlorn hope. i thanked the kraken, and it submerged back into the abyss. setting off from where i was, i took the ship towards my destination. i sailed for two days and two nights, with mostly myself for company. out of the sea, a monstrous whale surfaced, its yawning cavern of a mouth open to the world above. the forlorn hope, too slow and too small to evade the monstrosity, had no choice but to enter the whale's mouth. i clung on to my beloved ship as it was battered on the journey down the gullet. eventually it came to a halt, as it ran aground on some strange part of the whale's organ. all was dark, and i lit a kerosene lamp to light my way. i looked at the map, but it was of little use, i never thought the kraken would have been inside the belly of a whale before, even one as big as this. i left my ship behind and explored. the area where my ship ran aground was empty, save for a single mirror, intricately designed with a carved wooden frame. i stepped forward and saw myself in the reflection with my kerosene lantern in hand. i said to my reflection 'what is it you want from me?' my reflection cried, and replied 'how would i know what you want me to do if you wouldn't say anything?' perplexed, i moved on. i walked for days into the endless tunnels, searching and exploring but to no avail. at times i asked myself what i was looking for. i asked myself what was i in search of. the tunnels looked familiar at some points in time. but then again, everything looked pretty familiar. how different could various parts of an intestine look like? after days, i found an exit into a large cavernous space. i looked further, but somehow wasn't surprised at what i saw. i was back in the stomach of the whale. i questioned myself, arent intestines supposed to have an entrance an exit? in this case i seemed to have entered some kind of labyrinth and ended up making a huge round, only to arrive back where i started. exhausted from my travels and depressed and disillusioned by my failure, i returned to the galley. i opened the door to my quarters and lay my tired body on the bed, placing the lantern on the floorboards. the world grew dark around me as i closed my eyes to rest. now, i had nothing left, save for forlorn hope. ...