The wall

Once upon a time there was a young lady trapped in a castle surrounded by an enormous wall. She lived a comfortable enough existence and had pretty much everything she wanted, but often wondered what lay beyond the encircling stonework. Was there still something missing from her life? As the years passed, the mortar holding the bricks began to age and crumble a little offering little peeks of what lay beyond. The gentle lady (note she's not young any longer!) was fascinated by what she saw - a world that previously existed only in her dreams was beckoning. It offered up such opportunity and excitement. The lady had just to knock at the cracks, play with the plaster, and surely a way would come through. She pushed back bricks and the world beyond began to open up before her. Eventually whole chunks came crashing down and she took tentative steps beyond the crumpled remains and began to taste new opportunity. It was all there beckoning her, yet still, she would return to the safety of her castle and weeks would go by when she would not even venture near the breaches in the battlements. What was stopping her?

Fear? A lacking in self-confidence? The devils of procrastination and distraction?

Finally one day (as yet another Birthday marked the passing of time) the lady stood once again by the biggest breach and really looked into the distance. "If not now, when?" she shouted. She was no longer afraid. She listened to her instincts and stepped forth...

A piece of writing inspired by Kat's Tic Tocc which taps into my subconscious thought.