….the reflection of deep green first seen had now disappeared from my sight…I knew I was closer as the slope seemed to even out.

I can now see that the dry withered sticks were becoming abundant….the rocky ground was not as hard, giving way to smaller pebbles and felt softer underfoot.

Again the rocks shifted but now were all around, not just in the direction I walked…..suddenly I reached a small ridge…..looking down into the slight gully below….what was that…..a greenness greeted my eyes with a relief from the hard dusty ground and…..yes it is I hoped the sound of trickling water.

Now I understand why the mound had dark smudges…..shadows of the green gullies that cut slight clefts….not a cave or shelter as I had first hoped…..at least there was water to quench a thirst that had pushed me on…on to seek….to seek what?  My now baked skin would relish in the water…water now so close.

My eyes scanned the gully for signs of life…….there appeared to be nothing to arouse my sense of alarm.

Sliding down the scree slope my feet touched springy supple vegetation….almost grass like….relief from the hard sharp rocks that I have been walking on since my awakening.

This grass was nothing like I have experienced….nothing that raised familiar sensations of time before…..time before….time before what….all things grow and develop don’t they…..I couldn’t have always been as I am now….perhaps that is what I seek

As my feet, my toes wriggled into the grass I felt….what happened…..a flash stabbed my thoughts….an image of a sedge lined wetland…was this from my world….am I part of this world…..this dome covered endless source of frustration…or am I from elsewhere

Shaking myself from this wistful dream like state…trying to evoke the memory of before, I became aware of my thirst.

Hoping I would find the shade….a coolish place to rest…..I looked about and realised that although there was a slight ridge that bounded the gully, the sun seemed to shine from every direction…..offering no perceptible shade.

I moved towards that beckoning trickling sound…..wondering if I dug below the surface would there be a moistness in the soil…..