text: I opened my eyes and saw I was in a deep cave. Not some dark hole in the ground but a place full of light and beauty. A lush garden at my feet and a glow above me, melted together in the soft calm. I walked forward through gentle grasses that moved with me, while leaves fell silently at my feet. There was sound here but I couldn't quite hear it- a whisper just out of reach. I came to the centre of the cave, to the edge of a perfectly still lake. I knew She was there but I couldn't see Her at first, not until I peered over at my reflection and saw Her image smiling next to me. "You're here." Not a question. A quiet, gentle reminder of something long forgotten. "You knew I would come here." I heard the accusation in my voice. "Yes." Her smile was kind but edged with sadness. "I had hoped you wouldn't. But too many do." We stood in silence for a while, looking over the glassy water. Finally I turned to face Her and saw Her gazing mildly at me. "You have something for me." When I didn't answer She gestured to my hands which I still held tightly against my chest, hiding the tiny life I gripped. "You have carried it a long time." I looked down and opened my clenched fists a little. The life fluttered briefly and became still again. "It's too heavy," I sighed, "and it's too great a responsibility for me to hold. Will you take it from me? Just for a while?" She sighed too and smiled sadly at me. She held out Her hands and waited for me to pass it to Her. But I hesitated. "Will it be safe?" "None but you may take it back." "Can I retrieve it whenever I want?" She thought a moment and then replied, "Yes. But the longer it stays here, the harder it will be to take it back." I glanced down again, but it didn't move. "Did I... did I break it? It's so still." "It is tired. But it lives." All at once I opened my hands and flung it to Her. She caught it easily and cradled it lovingly against Her own chest, whispering soothingly to it. I thought I heard it sigh. "I was too hard on it." I said, bitterly. "I can't care for it anymore." She nodded and gave me another kind smile. "I will hold it for you until you come to reclaim it." "And if I never want it back?" She gave me a long look and then asked quietly, "How do you feel now? Relieved of your burden?" I held out my empty hands and gazed at them. For the first time I saw how scratched and bruised they were. "I feel... nothing." I admitted. "I thought I would feel lighter. But there is just emptiness." Her smile was sad again. "This is the heaviest burden to carry. But without it there is nothing. It will be safe here but it will not thrive. Neither will you." I was so tired and turned quickly to leave, but looked back briefly to see Her still watching me. "It was too heavy you know." As I walked away I heard Her say quietly, "You didn't have to carry it alone.