Here's the final draft: And the one that seeks thought, “I am ready to choose a path.” For doctrines have been read, gods compared, and rituals weighed in silence. He remembered the fire, where light was not worshiped but judged, and darkness was a choice, not a curse. He remembered the breath, where suffering was neither punished nor forgiven, but dissolved through stillness. He remembered the songs, where duty danced with illusion, and war itself was made holy by detachment. He remembered the resurrection, where the dismembered was remembered, and death was a gate, not an end. He remembered the teachings, etched in covenant, wrapped in law, carried by a people into exile and return. He remembered the prayers, whispered in caves, awaiting a kingdom not of this world. He remembered the tongues, where serpents taught silence and fire moved through spine and breath. And the thought wandered, and sleep came as a shadow without warning, and the dream began in the lowest of p...