Description of Landscape
To your left, there is long street, with a sign that says "Big Street". On this street you see what appear to be freestanding rooms. As you walk down this street, some of the doors are open, and you can see each one is very individual. Some are painted bright colors, some have posters on the walls, and one even has a crib in it. The street ends in a cul-de-sac, where there are many trees and birds singing. This is a very unusual place, it looks somewhat like a hallway in a college dorm, yet there are trees in here, and pavement under your feet. Some of the rooms have flowers and plants outside, making the place look very welcoming and comfortable. You look above, and see that the entire street is covered with a canopy of the branches of many trees.
Turning around, you notice a large open area at the beginning of the street that you didn't notice before. Walking back up Big Street, you see that it is a rather large spot, with a fireplace and the longest conference table you have ever seen. Around the table is the biggest assortment of chairs you have ever seen. There are straight-backed chairs, rocking chairs, couches, recliners, beanbag chairs, and more. As you get closer you see that each chair has a small sign on each one, with a name in small, carefully written calligraphy. You notice there is a small kitchen to one side, and looking the cupboards you find a wide assortment of snack foods, and the fridge holds an equally wide assortment of drinks. The floor is covered with a deep forest green carpet, so thick it is almost like a bed of pine needles. There are many hurricane lamps in this place, giving it a warm glow. Near the entrance you see a sign that says "Lounge".
Turning left from here, you see another street, but very different than the one you just came back from. This one also holds a sign, it says "Littles Road". Here the ground is soft green carpet, like that in the lounge, but it has more of a grass feel to it. You have never felt grass this soft, but it does appear to be grass. Walking down this road, you see on either side of you many rooms, all decorated differently. You see more stuffies than you have seen in any toy store in the world. The walls of this hallway type road are painted with huge rainbows, clouds, and Winnie-the-Pooh Characters. There are some rooms that have sleeping alcoves and no beds, others that are very unusual, they are almost like two rooms together, one half decorated with Elmo and many pink things, and the other half is bright purple with posters and stuffies of Barney everywhere. Above the door to this room you see a small wooden sign that says "Leslie and Krissy". Farther down, you see this road also ends in a cul-de-sac, but it's very different than the one on Big Street. Walking down you pass a room that seems to have a hole in the middle of the floor. Looking closer, you see that the hole is filled with pillows and cushions. Above the door to this room the sign says "Sabrina and Ariana". At the end of the road, you step off the road and into a wooded area. You follow the path, and find yourself in a large clearing, with a small cottage on one side, and a playground. The playground has slides, swings, see-saws, merry-go-rounds, sandboxes, and tubes to crawl in. Looking towards the cottage, you see a sign done in crayon that says "LILS ONLI NO BIGS LOWD". You smile to yourself as you walk back up Littles Road and almost step on a, no it can't be, yes, it is, there is a cat in here. A small white kitten is walking down the hall with you. It softly mews at you and a little boy comes and scoops it up and runs off with his thumb in his mouth, into a room with a sign above it that reads "Cory". You return to the beginning of the road, and to your right, you see through the trees a brick colored building. Walking towards the building, you begin to see that it resembles an old schoolhouse. You walk up the steps, and notice a bell hanging outside the door. You open the door, and step into a foyer open at both ends. There are hooks along the wall, each one with a name above it and a small cubbyhole beneath. At one end, along the wall, you see many childlike drawings and paintings. Stepping around the corner, you see desks lined up facing the front, which has a larger desk with a chalkboard behind it. It IS an old schoolhouse. It is very charming, lessons still on the chalkboard, papers tacked on every wall. Further back you see a door, and walking towards that door you see a sign that says "LeaAnne" above it. You open the door and walk through and find yourself in a small hallway, leading to another door into a room much like the ones on the other road. However, in this room sits a very stern but gentle looking woman with gray hair and wearing a long flowing skirt. LeaAnne greets you properly, and asks if you need any assistance looking around. She shows you her door to the woods, and tells you that this door is only for her to use, the others must use the gates. You smile, decline her offer of help, and go back out the way you came. Coming out of the schoolhouse, you notice the gates she was speaking of to your left. You also see a small one room cottage to the right of the gates. Walking over, you see a sign above that reads "Time-Out". Peeking inside the room, you see a bare room, all painted a flat beige, and a soft padded board along the wall. An alter passing by tells you that is the anger board, many of the Village go there and pound upon that padded wall when they are very angry. This is also a safe place for those who have difficulty with harming the body (self-injury), so that they are not locked up and yet have a safe place to go and work through the problems so that the body stays safe.
Moving through the trees towards the gate, you notice a presence around you. They aren't people, like those in the Village, they are angels. You smile as you make your way to the gate, where one angel steps forward and warns you that on the other side of the gate are many unknowns, so please be careful. You step through the beautiful wrought iron gates into a dense forest. The path goes deeper into the forest, and then forks to the left and right. You see a small handcarved sign that says "Village Retreat" pointing left, so you take that fork. As you walk along the path, you see squirrels and other wildlife, birds are singing, and it is truly beautiful here. There are many openings here and there, and angles warn you that these are openings into the tunnles and caves and below, and you should not go there. You decide to follow their advice, and continue along the path. The path gently begins to climb, and suddenly you are atop a mesa, where you can see a long winding path up a large mountain. You also notice there is an elevator here. Deciding this mountain is way to steep to climb, so you choose to take the elevator. Stepping in, you notice there are only two buttons. One says "Council", and the other "Retreat". Pressing the Council button out of curiosity, you watch out the glass enclosed elevator as it slowly moves up the mountain. You can see a small swimming beach, and a lagoon with very clear aqua water. As the elevator rises, you can see over the stone wall and into the Village. The elevator doors open and you find yourself staring at a long hallway. Stepping out, you feel the deep burgundy carpet envelope your feet in softness. The walls here are done in a rich dark brocade wallpaper, and there are framed and lighted paintings on the walls. It is very quiet here, and you notice the elegance of the surroundings. All of the fixtures are a brightly polished gold, and each frame around the paintings is a burnished copper color. Walking down the hall, you enter an office, done in the same burgundies and golds. The office is arranged in a semi-circle, and along the circle are 9 doors, each with a rich gold plaque bearing the name of the person in the office. Walking along and peeking in, you see a vast array of offices, some richly appointed with comfortable chairs and dark colors, some industrial looking with standard issue office furniture, and one very colorful office with papers spilling off every available surface, mixmatched furniture and lots of bright colors. The name on the door is "Bounce", and a cheery alter meets you and says Hello as Bounce bounds down the hall. Quietly, so as not to disturb those working here, you move away from the offices and notice a conference room. This one is much more formal than the others, and is filled walled to ceiling with books. You reach to take a book down, and find that you can't. It won't budge. Suddenly a looming shadow appears, you turn and face an enormous presence, wearing long robes and sandals. This is a little scary, but then the presence speaks, and the voice is very calm and soothing. You have just met Keeper. Keeper informs you that the books here are recordings of this Village, and each are locked and Keymaster has the keys. You cannot read these volumes without permission from Mayor, so you bid Keeper a goodbye and make your way back to the elevator.
Stepping in the elevator, you now press the Retreat button. Again the elevator slowly rises, giving you a wonderful view of the Village and Forest, and a very dark area as well. The elevator doors open, and you are now facing a beautiful outdoor vista. Stepping out, you see a large room on your right. Looking in, you see many tables and chairs, dozens of clear plastic boxes, and many shelves of books, toys, and games. In the clear boxes you see art supplies, clay, crayons, yarn, ribbon, paper, paints, etc. On one side is a very large kitchen area, with industrial size appliances and cookware. It appears to be very well stocked. Moving out the kitchen door, you come out on a deck overlooking the lagoon you saw earlier. The view is breathtaking. You notice here there are steps leading down to the swimming beach. You also note that everyone has been considered here, because there is also a motorized chair that moves up and down the side by the stairs. Turning around and making your way back out through the gathering room, you notice there are small cabins opposite from where you are. You go over to see them, and notice again that each one is decorated very differently from the others, but all seem warm and inviting. You notice a path behind the cabins and go down it just to see where it goes. It winds around behind the cabins and opens up into a clearing, and in the center of the clearing is a large rough wooden cross, and beneath it a stone circular area where one might pray. This area has a beautiful view of the lake as well, and many small enclosed areas where one might be able to sit alone and meditate. Go back up the path towards the cabins, you see more wildlife, and notice that there are small feeding stations off the path here and there. Returning to the elevator, you go back down, past the Council and back to the main forest path.
Following the forest path back to the fork, you encounter another angel, who summons Jack for you. You cannot go down the right fork without a protector with you. Jack comes and meets you, and you are immediately charmed by his easy-going manner and feel safe with him. He leads you down the path towards the isolation cells as he explains why they are necessary, and you learn that no one from the Village goes down into the tunnels and caves except LeaAnne and the Council Members. Walking along the path you notice it has begun to get dark, and a little chilly. Soon you find yourself in front of a huge steel wall. It is dark and cold here. Jack locks the huge steel door, and steps inside, and you follow. You are in a very narrow passageway, facing another steel wall. Jack unlocks a second door, and you step into a very dark and cold place. Walking along you see what looks like maximum security jail cells along both sides. It is very dark and cold here and you think you would rather not be here. Jack reassures you then moves quickly towards the far end of the cellblock, to a small well-lit room. You can finally see again when stepping in this room, and it has many heaters going inside. A huge black man greets you, and introduces himself as Gary. Gary is on guard duty today, and he is sitting in what is called the Guard Control Center. Here he can monitor each of those in the cells. Although the cells are soundproof, each one has a mike and camera, and Gary closely watches each screen. You tell Jack that you do not like this place, so he leads you out another door from the Guard Control Room. Stepping out of there is like waking up from a deep sleep. There is light again, and warmth. You are in a very small area with a building ahead of you and the isolation cells behind you. Jack takes you up to the building ahead, and he unlocks this door. Stepping in, you see a woman here who is talking almost non-stop, but she isn't making any sense, it sounds like gibberish. Jack explains that this is Patricia, and she is a robot. Rina is trying to reprogram her with positive affirmations, so for now, she is spewing out a mixture of affirmations she is being reprogrammed with and the negative messages she was originally programed for, so that is why she doesn't make sense. This room is rather large but sparsely furnished. This is the Neutral Zone, and is used when an alter makes the transition from isolation into the Village. There are cots here, and a few tables and chairs, all seem to be firmly bolted down. Jack shows you out through the front door, carefully locking it behind him, and escorts you back to the gates of Village.
We start at the very top, far left corner. That spot of yellow represents the outside world, where we have to be if we are in control of the body. As you open that first door (the red section), you step into a foyer. The foyer is small but inviting, there are a few plants here, and there is a beautiful hardwood floor under your feet. The walls have a chair rail, a bench is along the wall to your right. The top above the chair rail is painted a soft white, under the chair rail is a very warm paneling. In front of you is another door with a diamond shaped window. You step up and look through the window, you see much activity. You step out this inner door, and into a very strange world. It appears to be a place indoors, yet there are trees and plants and things you find outdoors everywhere you look.
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