I had a dream last night. I was walking in a lush green place, peaceful, because I was enveloped in a mist. I had a feeling that I had been worried before I entered the mist. But worried about what? I wasn’t sure. But I felt it didn’t matter anyhow, because now that worried feeling was entirely gone. So, I kept on walking, not really able to see much because of the mist, but with nothing to worry about, I saw no reason to turn back.

Then, the mist started to thin, and I began to feel uneasy again. But for some reason, I kept going. It was as if something was pulling me forward.

I came to a fence. It seemed to be made of tree branches, and some of them still had their green leaves on them. It was as if someone had hurriedly gathered as many tree branches as they could, not caring if they were straight or crooked, only trying to get a fence put up as fast as possible. It seemed as if that fence had been created keep me out—me, specifically. And that felt like a challenge, so of course, I knew I needed to get through it.

I pushed at the fence, and it fell right over. Why, I wondered, would someone go to all the trouble to put up a fence just to keep me out, but make it so rickety, it was easy for me to get through it? Or did they want me to get through it? Was the rickety fence a paradoxical kind of invitation to me, drawing me forward? For a brief moment, I wondered if I should turn back. But I pushed that thought away. Somehow I knew I had to go on.

I went on. One the other side of the fence, it was still as green and lush as before. And the mist was still there, possibly even thicker, so thick I couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of me.

Finally, as I kept walking, the mist began to thin, and could see something ahead. It was lights, flickering lights. At first, I wasn’t sure what could be causing the lights, but then, I realized it had to be fire. In fact, there seemed to be quite a large number of fires, hundreds of them, maybe thousands, and it was all those fires that was causing what I had thought was mist. It wasn’t mist, it was smoke.

But how could it be smoke? I wasn’t smelling any smoke. That’s when I realized I wasn’t smelling anything. It was as if I was in a world without odor. Even the green lushness around me had no odor. Was there something wrong with my sense of smell?

Not being able to smell anything disturbed me, and I thought seriously about turning back. But then, I thought, you’ve come this far, so why not go on? I need to find out what those fires were all about. What were they? I was too curious to turn back.

I went closer, and then I saw what all those fires were. They were pyramids of firstly burning wood. Next to each pyramid of fires was what looked like a human body wrapped in white cloth. I realized the fires were funeral pyres.

I saw many men tending the fires. They were all dressed in black. One of them saw me and called to me: “Come on now, sir. We’ve been waiting for you. You’re late, and you have to hurry.” He pointed to one of the burning pyramids of wood. “This one is yours. All you have to do is lie down here. We’ll take care of everything.”