Later on a middle aged woman wearing a black and white patterned dress came over to see her, she sat down on a chair to her right.

‘Hello, my name is Vicky, I’m a counsellor from the mental health team’ Natalie put her phone on the nearby table, rubbing her eyes in the process’

‘Good morning Vicky’ greeted Natalie, yawning.

‘Are you her mother?’ asked Vicky

‘Yes, I am’ the two of them shook each other’s hands.

‘Are you happy to have her here as I’m asking you questions?’ Vicky asked Natalie.

‘Yes please’ Vicky had a few notes on hand.

‘So Natalie’ she began ‘Last night a doctor diagnosed you with depression, is that right?’

‘Yes’ Natalie sighed.

‘It’s very common, Natalie’ said her mother ‘I’ve struggled with it myself’

‘I’ve heard you’ve been having strange dreams, too, is that right?’

‘Yes. Very strange dreams. I can’t get out of them either’

‘Oh, really?’

‘Yes. I tried pinching myself and everything’

‘That’s… very unusual!’

‘I’m kind of used to it now’

‘So… what were these dreams like?’

‘Did the doctor already tell you?’

‘Not really’ Natalie groaned.

‘You’ll find you’ll have to repeat yourself a lot while you’re in hospital, dear’ said her mother.

‘OK, well the first dream I had was one with this ghost type creature where it was yelling at me, telling me that it’s “my subconsciousness”. It told me that I wasn’t listening to it and that it was unhappy about it. The second dream was kind of a similar thing: I had this cat creature telling me… all sorts of things’ Natalie let out a deep sigh ‘Not this again…’

‘I take it it was an embarrassing dream?’

‘Yes, very’

‘I can do embarrassing, it’s not a big deal to me. I hear crazy stories all the time’

‘Well OK. I had this cat creature telling me that being naked is bad, that clothes desensitise us, and that it’s possible that the life I’m living is all an illusion’

‘I see. Well clothes do actually cause desensitivity, so that’s true’

‘Yeah, I’ve already been told that. I’m not running around naked, though’

‘No, don’t do that!’

‘Well, they do say we were born to be wild, Natalie!’ her mother remarked. Natalie just groaned.

‘I had another dream, by the way’

‘OK’ said Vicky

‘I had this dream about a man from a tribe who said that we have all this modern technology and yet we are miserable, while he lives a simple life and he’s all happy. I told him this was all just a dream but he didn’t listen to me’ Natalie paused ‘Come to think of it, he got angry when I told him it was’

‘I see. That’s really creepy’

‘Nah, I just went along with it. He kinda has good points, though. I feel in a way technology has caused us all to drift apart. Even seeing people face-to-face nowadays just seems like a revolution, even though in his world that’s basically the only way they can communicate’

‘That’s certainly true’ Vicky paused ‘And the human body is built to deal with the challenges nature throws at it’ Natalie was silent, she appeared to be in a state of though ‘For example if it gets cold your body starts shivering and will burn more energy to warm your body up’

‘Yeah, I know that. That all makes sense, really’ Vicky looked back at her notes.

‘From what I’ve been reading you sound like you have symptoms of depression’

‘Yep, I have. That all makes sense, too’ Natalie sighed, she started to look miserable. ‘There are times when I hardly have any energy, there times when I don’t want to get out of bed, there are times when I wish I could just… not be here any more’

‘Oh Natalie!’ her mother started rubbing her back.

‘I’m sorry, Mum’

‘Don’t worry’ said Vicky ‘This is very common. And it’s much better to admit these things as opposed to keeping them to yourself’ Natalie sighed again.

‘I guess it depends who I’m admitting them to’ Natalie yawned, lying down on the bed. Her eyes started to close.

‘Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?’ Natalie didn’t answer, she just yawned again.

‘She must be really tired’ said her mother ‘She has been through a lot recently, after all’

‘OK’ Vicky walked away. Natalie woke up the instant she left the area.

‘You were not joking when you said I had to say the same shit all over again’

‘Well, counsellors are here to help you, Natalie’

‘I know’ Later on she fell completely asleep, her mother tucked her in the hospital bed as she did so.

In a few moments she awakened in an area that looked like the interior of a temple, she was face first on a stone floor and rose herself upwards. There was a was a mild green glow around the temple.

‘Oh shit, this again?’ Natalie groaned, as she rose off of the floor. In the middle of the temple was a young looking woman with green hair wearing a white dress. Her eyes were closed and her hands were in a prayer. Natalie walked over to her as soon as she saw her.

‘It is impolite to swear in these sacred grounds, Natalie’ said the woman, with her eyes still shut. There was a young looking man sitting near her, like her he had green hair and was wearing a white garment. He appeared to be asleep.

‘Well, I’m sorry’ said Natalie, looking grumpy ‘How was I supposed to know I was in some sacred plain of hell?’

‘This is not hell, Natalia’

‘Don’t call me “Natalia”. Only my dad calls me that.’

‘Like him or not, he is part of who you are’

‘Yeah, that’s wonderful’ the woman’s eyes opened.

‘What is causing all this bitterness inside of you? Do you not have an ability to forgive anyone?’

‘It depends what they’ve done. And I feel I’m right to be the way I am, with all the people who’ve screwed me over in my life’ the woman sighed, with a face that signalled disappointment.

‘You let these things happen’ Natalie glared at her

‘What do you mean?’

‘These things have happened because you have no love for yourself. You are allowing people to take advantage of you’ Natalie’s frown disappeared, she moved closer to her. ‘You don’t take care of yourself, either. You consume harmful chemicals, food that has contaminated by the evils of mankind and you’re not using your own body for it’s true purposes’

‘You mean I drink too much and eat too much processed food? OK, I can get behind that. But what do you mean I’m “not using my body for it’s true potential?”’

‘You are not using for what it was built to do in the first place’

‘Oh, you mean hunt and kill? Fine, I’ll strip myself naked and live in the wild. Please, just leave me alone!’

‘That’s not what I meant. And no, please don’t do that, for your own sake’ she then clicked her fingers, which awakened the man sitting next to her. He stood next to her, looking at Natalie.

‘What she means is that you don’t understand your body’ he said, he almost had a childlike voice. ‘Have you ever wondered why you have gotten fatter?’

‘Uhhhhh… excuse me?’

‘It’s mainly because of this: you are putting yourself through more stress than your body can handle. Your body releases this stress through active means, not by sitting on the sofa watching one of your electronic contraptions all day’

‘I did hear that somewhere, actually’

‘The way you release this stress is by getting your body moving’ said the woman ‘Getting your blood pumping, getting your feel good hormones throughout your body.. But please, do look after yourself’

‘OK, thank you’ Natalie turned around and walked away from the altar.

‘Where are you going?’ asked the woman ‘There is no escape from here’ Natalie groaned, walking back to the altar ‘Just as there is no escape from your body. From yourself’

‘Except death’ Natalie answered.

‘No, death is not an escape. It is merely a diversion. Another path in your existence as a person’

‘That’s impossible. When you’re dead, you’re dead. Your existence is over’

‘How do you know?’ Natalie was silent, she had no answer ‘And even to go by your own logic, what do you think you’ll experience when you’re dead? If nothing at all happens, doesn’t that mean something would happen? And what do you think happened before you were born?’ Natalie sighed.

‘You’re turning my brain inside out. I have no clue, honestly’ the woman paused for a moment.

‘Do you think that, for your own sake and happiness, that it’s better to believe something will happen after death than not?’

‘Well… yeah, I guess so. But then I would like to know the truth, too’

‘What really is “the truth”, though?’ the man asked ‘You are limited by your own senses as a human being. What you perceive can be distorted’

‘For example’ the woman began ‘If you were to look at the ocean, the water appears as blue, is that right?’

‘Yes’

‘But if you were to take a cup and take some of it out, it appears as clear. It doesn’t have a colour at all’

‘Assuming it hasn’t got sh- uh… stuff in it’

‘And what about when darkness arises? What happens to colours then?’

‘They pretty much all go away. Unless you shine a light on them’ the woman nodded.

‘Correct’ Natalia sighed, walking around the altar.

‘So, what are you getting at, exactly? I feel like these dreams only stop when I’ve learned something’

‘You’re calling this a dream?’ asked the man, with a grumpy look on his face.

‘Well, yeah. It is’ the woman glared at her, looking as though she were ready to lecture Natalie.

‘By calling this a “dream”, you are denying that we exist. And yet we are part of who you are. Part of your very self. To imply that we don’t exist is to imply that the part of you we are from does not exist either’ the woman closed her eyes ‘To go back to your earlier question, what are we trying to get to you? We want you to love. To forgive, to show gratitude, to care about others. To find true happiness’ Natalie was silent for a while,

‘I see’ she then sighed, deeply ‘Oh Leon…’

‘That “man” is an abomination’ said the man ‘Though by recognising true love, you will never be hurt by him’

‘I wouldn’t go as far as to call him an “abomination”, but OK’

‘People like him erode who you are, destroying your very self’ he said ‘Thanks to him and the lies you are told, your concept of true love becomes distorted’

‘So... what is “true love”, then?’

‘It’s when you love someone for who they are, not what you want them to be’ said the woman ‘And when the other person does the same to you’ Natalie sighed again.

‘Leon never felt that way to me. But I always accepted him, and I shouldn’t have!’

‘He’s the only one who has betrayed you’ said the man.

‘Your father was no different’ added the woman.

‘Yeah, well, to hell with him’

‘There is no point of resenting either of those two, though. Just let go of your bitterness of them, and appreciate those that are there for you’

‘OK, I will. Though to be honest I’ve not heard from my dad for such a long time’

‘We know. We are you, after all’ Natalie was knocked into silence.

‘Oh, right’ wings started to appear on the two humans.

‘We shall conclude this “dream” by our own wisdom to you’

‘Please, forgive Tyrell’ said the man  ‘He has suffered from his own traumas. You will be pleasantly surprised’

‘Huh? Why should I do that?’ the man shook his head.

‘The biggest mistake you made is that you were seeing him just to be with him. He needs more than just that’ the man gazed at her. ‘You still love him, don’t you?’ Natalie gasped, she started to cry’

‘Yes… yes, I do! But he’s... ‘

‘Does that truly matter?’ the woman asked ‘He is a human being, just like you. He is suffering, just like you. I wish for you to love him without conditions’ Natalie was crying ‘Remember this, more than anything: there is no defeat in unconditional love. Allow your feelings to be what they are’

‘OK, I’ll do that!’ the two started to fly upwards ‘Wait, where are you going?!’

‘You shall awaken shortly’ said the man. The two disappeared. A bright light shone onto Natalie's face, she put her hand in front of her face and later blacked out.