A City of Wonders (event)
I firmly grab the strand. It shimmers silver, then gold, and then it explodes in a multitude of colors and shapes. After a few seconds of flashing mirages, the world around me stabilizes. I am hovering high in the air, formless, like a gust of wind. I look down and take in the scenery. A truly magnificent city sprawls below me, its winding streets extending to the horizon in every direction. On the edges I see the very example of misery, tiny houses falling apart in a labyrinth of decay, and people flowing through narrow passageways like maggots on a rotting corpse. In the center, however, golden domes reflect blinding sunlight like the most opulent of crowns, and I lower myself to see what wondrous things might I find there./n/nMy ethereal form passes through a massive, stained glass window into a building that must surely be a palace. I see a multitude of people, all in clothes that would inspire the envy of emperors, crowding around a strange ditch in the stone floor. Suddenly, I hear a piercing noise and a long wagon pummels into the hall. Another one follows shortly after, then another and another until there are too many to count. As they slow down, I see that they are joined together, but there does not appear to be any beast pulling them, leaving me to wonder how they could move so quickly. Crowds pour out of those wagons, and then the people that were waiting in the hall enter them. After just a few minutes, the line of wagons speeds away where it came from. I exit the building in awe of the unknown invention that allows so many people to move so quickly./n/nI wander the beautiful, marble-paved streets for hours, careful not to step out into the slums. Over that time, I pass by infinite wonders. Orbs that glow almost as strong as the sun light up around me, and ships float in the skies above. A profound sense of longing settles upon me as I am finally pulled out of the vision. Opening my eyes, I promise to myself:
I will one day reconstruct those wonders.