Bab 51: Illusion… Or Not

My mind was a kaleidoscope of colors and universes, a swirling vortex of sensation that pulled me deeper into its embrace. I was suspended in a sea of vibrant hues, each color merging and melding into the next. 

It was a dance of light and form, a symphony of beauty and wonder that seemed to stretch into eternity.

***

But then, suddenly, the colors shifted, darkening and warping until they morphed into something entirely different. 

I was no longer bathed in beauty; instead, I found myself enveloped in a sense of dread, a chilling realization that I was witnessing something else entirely.

Death.

It hit me like a thunderclap, the weight of mortality crashing down upon me. I saw myself, over and over again, in the throes of death's grasp.