There are certain events in our lives that change the whole course of
our existence, and falling forward into the hole was one for me. Its
immediate effects weren't injurious to me at all, but it matured with
time, like a good wine, and grew until it overcame me, starting the
chain of events which would result in my demise. Yet not only mine, but
that of everyone.

Let me continue, though, and I will explain what I mean and not confuse
you more. I landed with a thud on a pile of soft dirt some twenty feet
down, in a dark place which seemed open, not cavernous and cramped as I
would have expected. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and as they did,
I realized it was not now totally lightless, for there was a faint glow
coming from somewhere in the distance. Looking up through the passage I
had come down, I saw that there was no way to climb up it, and,
accordingly, set off to find the source of the faint light that came
from the distance. After walking cautiously through the darkness, I
reached a curve and then a tunnel-like exit to the spacious cavern that
I was in, and as I turned it I saw the source of the light: lava flows.
The room, or area, I had entered was rather thin and round, with a river
of lava flowing downwards and a small ledge of rock winding along its
edge. Together they descended spirally downwards at a gentle angle,
taking the form of an intelligently designed ramp. As I followed it down
I soon broke out in a sweat, for the gurgling, fiery plasma heated the
area up to a warm degree.

I found myself looking intently at the flowing fire beside which I
walked, its strangeness stealing my meditations from other things, and I
looked at it absorbingly, not paying attention to the path that I walked
on, so entranced was I with the feeling that its boiling character gave