I posted this on TSR a while back.
One Thousand Chances
I looked at the sun, but I realized that it was not the sun. Then I turned my eyes to the moon, but it was not the moon. They were all false.
I thought about these untruths, and began to wonder if life was false—if life was an untruth. I did not have much time to think about such things, as the door had already opened. The door which was locked had opened. The door I had tried to open before, but had found it locked. It was open.
From inside the door there were shouts in a language that no one could understand, and there were people that no one could see. I knew they were there. They called to me in the language no one could understand, “Close the door!”
I refused, but closed the door anyway. I turned around to see the sun and moon beginning to set, though I knew they were not real. Nothing is real anymore.
Everything that was real is dead.
I slowly traversed the steps from the porch down to the grass; the grass that was fake. Not even the early morning dew held a pinpoint of truth. And it was then I realized I was alone—Alone in the most horrid of places: a place full of untruth and absolute darkness. If I could light the great torch in the middle of the Plaza, perhaps I could chase away the darkness and untruth. But then I tell myself, the Plaza is far away, and no true fire exists anymore. I knew that only true fire could chase away the dark.
I wondered if the people within the door knew where I could find fire, but when I tried the door again, I found it locked. The door which had been found locked, which had opened, is now locked once more. I had lost a chance. I only had nine hundred and ninety-nine more chances.
The sun and the moon had set, and the creatures of the night were beginning to stir. I must find shelter, I said to myself, or I will surely die. I walked a ways to the Inn, but there was no innkeeper. Instead, there at the desk was a monster. It asked me, “What do you seek?”
“I seek the truth,” I answered.
The monster laughed and said, “What chance do you have of finding truth in a world that is filled with monsters that devour the truth?”
“Nine hundred and ninety-nine chances.”
The monster grew angry, but suddenly it disappeared, and the innkeeper appeared. She said to me, “Would you like to stay a night, in the land of monsters that devour truth?”
I told her, “Yes,” and asked her how much it would cost.
“It costs you a thought.”
“A thought?” I queried.
“Yes. Think of something wonderful, and I shall allow you to stay in this Inn, the Inn in the land of monsters that devour truth.”
Knowing that I could not do such a thing, I told her so.
She laughed, and I realized that she was the monster.
“I must find somewhere else to stay,” I said.
“Very well,” said the monster. “But you will not find what you seek.”
I knew this was not true, and was about to tell it so, but it was gone. I stepped out the door of the Inn into the land of monsters that devour the truth. It was dark.
The fear of death moved my feet, and the fear of an encounter made me watchful. I continued on for hours, until I found another inn. It was still in the land of monsters that devour truth, but there was a light on. The light did not seem fake.
I stepped inside, greeted with the aroma of a home; a safe haven. A woman was cooking in the kitchen, and a family was sitting at the table, patiently waiting.
The man at the end of the table said to me, “What are you doing here?”
I told him I was looking for an inn.
“This is not an inn. It is a home. Be gone with you.”
Claws of grief tore at my heart as I stepped out through the threshold. Nine hundred and ninety-eight chances remained.
I continued walking down a road with no name, until another monster crossed my path. It said to me, “What do you seek?”
“I seek the truth,” I responded.
“What chance do you have of finding the truth in a land of monsters that devour truth?” it asked me with a scowl.
“Nine hundred and ninety-eight chances,”
The monster’s scowl disappeared. “Your search is hopeless.” And I realized this was not a monster, but a traveler. “I, too, seek the truth, but the truth is not there. Only untruth.”
“I will not believe such a thing.”
“Your search is hopeless,” he said as he vanished into the darkness.
I continued walking down the road with no name, searching for truth in the land of monsters that devour truth.
As I walked down the path set for me, I found another town. The town was dark, but not as dark as the one before. I traveled to the center. A girl was sitting on the fountain in the middle of the square, staring into the night sky. There were no stars.
“Why are there no stars?” she asked me, still looking up.
“Stars only shine when the world wants them to...” I answered.
“You're lying.”
“I--”
The girl was gone. Nine hundred ninety-seven chances.
I scoured the town, searching for an inn. My eyes grew heavy with fatigue and sorrow. I had to find a place to sleep, otherwise I would be devoured.
As I walked down a dark back alley, a monster approached me from the shadows. “Hello, dear friend,” it said to me.
I ignored it and continued walking.
“Hello, dear friend,” it said again, grabbing my arm. “Why are you in such a hurry, dear friend?”
“I am not a dear friend. Go away,” I spat.
“Oh, but you are. Do you not walk in the darkness along with me? Do your eyes not ignore places of refuge?”
“Your tongue is heavy with malice.”
“You are ignoring what I am saying. Do not discount everything I say, for even monsters can speak the truth of what they are experienced in.”
What was this foul creature trying to say? Was it accusing me of something?
“A true fire burns in the darkest of caverns,” I said. I knew the monsters feared the light; he should have run away in fear. He did not.
“A true fire burns only on true fodder. Remember.”
“True fodder does not exist. Darkness has contaminated the resources of the world.”
The creature smiled. “Then there is no true fire.”
