Upon opening my eyes, I could only see darkness.

At first, I had doubts if I were even awake. I try waving my hands in front of my eyes. I could feel them move, and yet I could not see a thing.

Have I gone blind? I grope for my surroundings. I could not feel anything in my immediate vicinity. I kneel on the floor to check the ground, and immediately notice the abnormality.

There is no ground.

There is no floor. I could only grasp thin air beneath me.

I could feel my jaw drop open. I seem to be floating in mid-air. Only the void exists beneath my feet - an endless stretch of darkness.

-- Is anyone out there? I shout.

Or at least, I try to shout. A deafening silence fills my ears. My mouth is open, but no voice is coming out. I try to shout wordless screams, but I could not produce even the faintest whisper.

Still on my fours, I try to crawl forward. Right then, I become aware of the surrounding temperature.

Cold.

As if responding to my awareness, cold darkness begins to embrace every fiber of my being. An icy grip begins to squeeze on my throat - the chilling darkness begins to creep up my limbs. My mind screams at all of my joints to move. Numb. My joints, my muscles - frozen and unwilling to listen to the orders of their master. A cold silence surrounds me. Only the ringing in my ears and a never-ending blackness serve as my company.

Surely, this place could have no other name but despair. A slow, mind-numbing chill is creeping upon my body. Here I am, alone. A room with no end, a blackness that stretches to infinity. The inevitable question crosses my mind.

-- Am I going to die here?

Silence. And then, a voice. At first, it was merely a soft whisper. An echo in my brain. Was it responding to the plea in my mind? I don't know. It whispers:

"What do you seek, young man?"

I could not understand what the voice is saying. What could I possibly seek in this wasteland? Here, there is no warmth, no light, and no sign of life. There is no end, but at the same time, there is nothing but nothingness. An empty void that stretches for eternity, only bound by the box that is my body.

Yes, this eternity might as well be a box. Endless, and yet finite. Eternal, yet bound. No matter how much I walk - no matter how far I go, I will always be bound by the box of my body. The icy grip on my limbs tighten, as if binding me to the ground (or what passes for the ground here). This container is my prison, and the frost chaining me is my warden.

Ah, so that's it.

What a silly oversight. There's only one thing I can seek in here.

-- I wish to escape.

The words echo in my mind.

"I see." I could not see the owner of the voice. I even doubt if the voice even has an owner. But if it did, surely, at that moment --

"A superb answer."

-- that person must have been smiling.

A flicker of light appears before me. An ember. A warm flame. So faint that it could disappear at any moment.

"Take it."

My limbs, which refused my commands until now, begin to move. I crawl towards the faint ember and reach out.

A blinding light emanates from the flame. The warmth melts the icy grip on my skin, and the brilliance dispels the darkness around me. Seeking the warmth, I place the flame closer to my body and embrace it.

And then, I fall. As if the universe suddenly remembered the existence of gravity, my body descends and accelerates towards the earth. I close my eyes tight and await the inevitable impact. As I fall to the ground, I hear the disembodied voice whisper in my mind once more:

"Good morning, my boy. It's time to wake up."